Fractured: A Maximum Ride Parody
by MillieKittan
Summary: Set during MR1. Rescuing Angel went completely wrong, and the rest of the Flock are gone. With just Max and Fang left, can they still save the world? Fax. Humour/ Adventure/ Romance. Some violence.
1. Just the Two of Us

**Has anyone ever noticed boredom makes you want to do something...random? This idea came to me when bored...and is kinda sad...but i need to practice my writing anyway i guess so its not a total waste of time lol...**

**Hope you like, as much as you can with sad things lol  
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Max stood gazing over the canyon she had looked over so many times, not staring at anything in particular, but being here felt…kind of right. She pulled the sleeves of Fang's jumper down over her hands and folded her arms, jamming her now covered hands into her elbows to keep them warm. It could be pouring with rain or so hot she would pass out, but Max would still be standing here. Right now, for as long as she felt she needed to.

It felt right.

Behind her, Fang sat on a burned chair. The stuffing was escaping from the slightly charred cover, and it looked seriously unloved, but the framework was holding together so far. Not that Fang was very heavy, but it did the job just fine. He was leaning slightly forwards, his chin balanced on his hands and elbows propped up on his knees as he watched Max's back.

His fingers tentatively stroked a healing bruise on his jaw. It wasn't so bad, was fading to a very pale blue already, even though he'd only gotten the thing a day or so ago. Maybe more. He made a mental note to get a watch after Max was done and continued to watch her carefully, her hair whipping about as it was now just past her shoulder blades.

He bet himself a beef burger the first thing she'd do was hack it off. She always did, with kitchen scissors and once even a knife. It was a shame, he liked it longer.

He was cold, but he didn't really mind. Max probably needed that jumper more than he did. Her's were scratched to shreds after all, his was still mainly in tact. He absentmindedly rubber his arm with his other hand, not showing a hint of emotion as he agitated healing cuts on his arm. They would be healed soon too, like it really mattered.

He was more worried about Max.

Max herself had taken quite a beating recently. She had cuts and bruises all over her face, though they were healing as quickly as Fangs. Her arms were riddled with deep wounds, like someone had tried to play naughts and crosses on her bare arm. Beneath Fang's slightly over sided jumper was Max's own tattered fleece. She hadn't got round to removing it when Fang bunged his jumper on top. She'd looked him in the eyes, but as usual he looked cool as a cucumber. They'd flown the whole way back to their old house in silence. What he'd said as she'd shrugged her arms into his jumper had broken almost a day of silence.

"Take all the time you need."

She was pretty sure Fang was pretty broken up too. She knew he'd never show it, he'd bottle it up until he wanted to explode, then maybe take it out on the next Eraser that happened to get in the way of his fists. She personally wanted to smack something, but she certainly couldn't hit Fang. Nothing had been his fault.

She took a long shaky breath, unsure if it was because she was cold or her emotions were getting the better of her again, and pulled her arms tighter around herself. Her eyes were red still, made worse by the wind in her eyes as they'd flown home. Back to where they had once belonged. The whole flock belonged.

She could still hear them laughing.

Fang was having a hard time himself. He was letting the events of the day play behind his now closed eyes, but he didn't act upon them. His fists tightened as the image of an Eraser punching Angel passed behind his eyes, but his face showed serenity at its finest. Max had always been strong for the Flock, because she felt she needed to. She was the eldest, the leader. But she couldn't do it all.

But it was so hard.

He wanted to walk up behind her and hold her tight, to try and reassure her. Of what, he wasn't sure, but he really wanted to try. Opening his eyes he looked at her back once again. He watched her slowly extend her beautiful wings in the half light. The sun was setting, burnt orange added the most gorgeous tinge to her feathers. He wanted to protect her, but he knew all too well that she'd never let him. If he openly went to try and protect her, even from herself, there would be such a rebellion it wouldn't even be worth it.

He sighed, hoping she'd let him help eventually.

Max herself was mulling over the events too. It had started roughly two months ago, according to the paper Fang had grabbed from the city when he went to find food. They had been living so peacefully, without too many worries. Of course there were some background ones, especially for Max. Keeping the Flock running had been her reason to get up in the morning, keeping them fed and safe a close second.

Images of their smiling faces passed in front of her eyes, and memories made her smile. Iggy and his incredibly knack of cooking despite being blind. It reminded her he owed her an alarm clock, which he'd briefly admitted to on their flight out to find Angel.

As the wind whistled in her ears, she realised how much she missed Nudge's incessant chattering. Even if it was nonsense and plain gibberish half of the time, until the actual reason for the outburst finally came to light, it was something that was now missing. Max didn't like the change at all. She felt her eyes grow how and sniffed, blinking back tears as images of the Gasman joined those of Nudge. His adorable fluffy hair, his innocence. How he and Iggy had protected themselves when she left them alone.

She was so proud of them. They had done so well…

Finally, Angel. The youngest and cutest of her Flock, and the scariest. Children who could read minds were a pretty scary thing to Max. She smiled slightly, remembering thinking she was her little girl, and Angel picking it up. Telling her she was her favourite. She'd been so proud of them all, right to the end. None of them broke. None of them fractured.

They just…didn't come back one day.

Her wings were now fully stretched out, all thirteen and a half feet of them bathing I the last of the sunlight. Fang was sat just out of reach of her shadow, watching her carefully. He had no idea what was running through her mind, and was hoping she wouldn't do anything drastic.

But he trusted her.

He himself let the events run though his mind, his face staying impassive as they smothered his thoughts. Angel, bruised and scared, being shoved into a bag. Being knocked out to find Max a heap on the floor, the rest of the flock so injured and fragile.

Angel. Missing.

He'd felt sick to his stomach as he did a headcount, realising the bouncy curls were missing. He counted twice, three times. Panic had risen, but he kept his face stony as the others looked at him. Instead he helped rouse Max, and put all his effort into catching up to the hummer she was now in. He couldn't describe how good it felt to smash a branch down on its windscreen.

_Damn guns_ he though to himself, now moving massage his temples._ If they hadn't had guns, we'd have got her back then and there…_

It had then become a rescue mission. Fang had been a little surprised at how organised Max had been despite her distress. He could see it in her eyes, even if she tried to hide it. She'd lost her baby. Her Angel. It had ripped her heart out and impaled it on a spike, but she'd held it together to organise the Flock enough to get a rescue plan. At least a basic one, even if everyone hadn't agreed with it.

Fang let a half smile onto his face as he remembered Max's little excursion to help that little girl. She was awesome. She really was. He snap decisions weren't always the best, and that one had got her into a lot of trouble. But he adored her for it. That in built sense of right and wrong, and of helping the others that needed others.

The smirk stayed as he recalled flying with the hawks with Nudge, leaning to bank and all their cool maneuvers. He twitched his wings absentmindedly, still pulled tight against his back. Ari and visiting Nudge's apparent mother had been a huge let down, though painting him a luminous colour was a highlight of the experience. Then they'd all been reunited, the whole gang. Max finally made it back, with cookies, then Gasman and Iggy found them, telling of the experience they'd had back at home.

He lifted his head to survey where their house had once stood. It certainly had met a sticky end. The thing had been burned to the ground. Random lumps of rubble scattered the charred grass. You could still see where the kitchen once was, the tiles having melted into a strange grey-looking goop, singed at the edges.

They really did a number on this place… Fang looked back up at Max. She was still standing dead still, staring out over the canyon. It had been the perfect place for them to live. Covered and high up, plenty of room to fly around. They couldn't stay here too much longer. If that chip Max mentioned was a tracer they needed to stay on the move.

But he didn't have the heart to tell her so. Surely she'd realise anyway. She hadn't lost her common sense, after all. He did a quick three-sixty of the area and rested his chin back on his hands, studying her back.

Max was still blinking back tears, memories of the last few months trapped in the School flashing through her mind. They had gone to save her, they were going to grab her and get the hell out of there as fast as possible, giving anyone or anything in their way a hard time. That idea had been cut short when the remained of her flock had been picked up by Ari and taken to the School as prisoners.

That was one way of getting inside. Not a brilliant one though.

Angel had looked so fragile, so weak. She felt ashamed she'd stopped to help Ella when her own baby was in danger, in such mortal danger. She didn't want to think about what might have happened to Ella had she not stopped, but at the same time the guilt continued to consume her. She'd been too late. Angel had been removed from their room the next day, and her dog crate came back empty.

Angel was gone.

Nudge had been in tears for hours, Gazzy smashing his fists uselessly against the dog crate, bruising his knuckles and causing his hands to bleed to no avail. The next to go was Iggy. She guessed they were just picking them off one by one. Shameful to pick on the youngest, and then the blind guy, as your first victims. Max was itching to sink her teeth into someone's hand.

Jeb had made an appearance, tried to win her over with hot chocolate. As god-damn yummy as it smelt, she hadn't touched a drop of it, ignoring her parched throat to concentrate on her hatred for him. He told her something that made her want to break his neck then and there.

"You have to save the World, Max."

Max has almost lost it, had she not been taking lessons from Fang and his silent expressionless-ness that only portrayed what he was thinking if you knew what you were looking for Jeb would have noticed. He was probably looking for the wrong emotion though, because she showed confusion before he lead her back to her dog crate. Max was numb. She'd tried to save the world. The Flock were her world.

And now they were being picked off one at a time.

Max swallowed hard, annoyed that the tears were winning over her battle of wills. Gazzy and Nudge went over the following four weeks, they just got taken away one day, not testing prior to it, and never came back. The assumption was easy, they were 'extinguishing' them, as she'd heard one whitecoat say. Ending their lives prematurely. A question hung in her head all the next few weeks, waiting to be finished off.

Who'll go first. Me or Fang?

Fang himself remembered all too well when they'd decided he was due to be decommissioned. It was a bad idea to attempt removing him from a dog crate without knocking him out first. Of course, the rookie whitecoat soon learned that.

The painful way.

His anger, seething inside him yet waiting for the best outlet, had all exploded on that one whitecoat. As unfair is it may seem, he was still in league with the big guns. With Jeb. That meant he was being punished for what he would inflict in the future, even if he hadn't done anything yet. With no backup or erasers to call alarms to fend him off, the whitecoat was down for the count in minutes.

It took seconds to kick in the lock on Max's dog crate, even if it hurt like hell.

He'd looked into her eyes at that second, before he pulled her from the dog crate and encouraged her to move. Her eyes were red from un-shed tears, she was shaking, possibly in anger or from the lack of nourishment. She looked so pale, so fragile. So small. He'd never seen her so frightened and scared before, it kind of took him aback.

As soon as they started making their escape and oppositions came their way, Max was kicking and breaking bones with the best of them. Her sorrow, her anger, anything she felt pent up inside being taken out on those who got in their way. There was just one thing left to fight for.

Freedom

Max sighed, remembering the details of how they got out of that awful place again. So many erasers. Without Fang by her side she would have been sunk. She almost felt like she could say the same for him. They'd had each others backs the whole way out, taking or blocking blows for the other that could have been near fatal, or very disabling.

Now here they were, in the remains of Iggy and Gazzy's big stand off, the charred remnants of the life they'd once had almost representative of what had happened to her flock. It had been torn apart bit by bit and ripped from her.

Just her and Fang.

Fang watched as she pulled her wings in and dropped her arms to her sides, the wind still whipping her battered trousers about her legs, her hair getting whisked to one side in a dramatic, heroine type fashion as she stared at the now dark blue sky. She held her arms out wide and held her head back, causing Fang to raise an eyebrow.

Then she fell off the cliff.

Max had her eyes closed as she fell, feeling the wind fly past her face at such a tremendous speed was thrilling. She felt her hair being whipped straight up, Fang's baggy jumper being filled with the excess air that enveloped her. It made her feel relaxed. At home. This used to make er feel alive. Now she just felt dead inside.

It was what she had been born to do, and keep doing.

Opening her wings, she hid the flinch that came from sudden unfurling and beat her wings, letting the air carry her up as her shoulders moved powerfully to keep her in flight. She opened her eyes as she once again cleared the top of the cliff, looking down to find Fang now close to the edge and watching her. She was surprised to see a look of relief wash over Fang before he returned to his old, impassive state. Then she realised something.

She wasn't alone. More importantly, she didn't have to be.

Flying down and landing awkwardly, still having not bothered Fang to teach her what her learned from the hawks, she landed as close as she could to him without whipping him with her wings. Pulling her wings in tight to her back, she looked him in the eyes. He looked in-compassionate to the untrained eye, but he was watching her carefully, and she knew it.

She gave an out of place laugh, just the one outburst that made her look mad before she bit her lip, her mouth quivering. Fang finally closed the distance between them to just a few feet, now looking down to keep contact with her eyes.

Max gave in. Tears fell down her cheeks as she struggled to speak.

"Th- They're gone, Fang. I couldn't protect them…couldn't save them…"

His eyes softened as he closed the last of the distance between them, wrapping his arms tightly around her and pulling her to his chest, ignoring the stinging of the scratches as she buried her head in his shirt. He sunk to the floor with her as she sobbed, never loosening his hold on her as she curled against him. Hot tears soaked his shirt as she gripped his arm. Silent tears fell from Fang's own eyes, dampening her hair as she shook against him as he hushed her softly.

Time passed, and Max's shaking and crying became nothing more than the occasional whimper. Fang refused to let go, holding her so tightly, never wanting to let her go.

She was fourteen.

She'd been like a prisoner, a mother, a leader.

She'd loved, she'd lost.

She'd been through so much.

And as she slept against him, her face finally softened and serene as it had been while Jeb cared for them, Fang whispered ever so softly into her ear, almost inaudible:

"I'll protect you, Maximum ride. Until the day I die"


	2. Tears and Headaches and Houses

**Alright....I'm going to attempt to make this into a series :P as the two reviewers asked if there was more to come and i do have waaay too much time on my hands now college is almost over.**

**Getting a job in a recession is really hard lol, but as soon as i get one, if i keep this going, the updates will either get shorter or further apart. Please dun bite me =o**

**So yeah...its going to become a parody of the book, following the same kind of pattern but missing the other characters, and maybe a few extra twists and things to get round difficulties now I'm missing those characters i might need.**

**Hope you enjoy, anyway lol.  
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Fang kept a tight hold on her as she slept, resting his forehead on top of her own head as he drifted in and out of sleep. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but he was certainly tired. The school weren't exactly the best hosts after all. Food and water where given when you looked like you'd curl up and die. Exercise was a no-no unless it was for research. In truth, he was probably as physically _and_ emotionally exhausted as Max as she slept in his arm, but it was his turn to be strong.

He wouldn't let it show.

The night passed in a haze of grogginess for Fang. Every time a plane flew overhead, or the wind picked up he was jolted out of sleep, doing a quick and sleepy three-sixty before letting his eyes droop closed once more. As the sun began to rise, he was roused more frequently by choruses of birds, having a good morning chat over worms and things. Fang silently wished he had a shot gun as he tried to block the incessant chirping from his mind.

Finally, he was woken as Max stirred against him and her hand gripped his arm once more. It wasn't particularly hard, especially for Max, but Fang made the effort to keep his eyes open, blinking rapidly to help himself wake up. She was dreaming. By the way she gripped his arm tightly before loosening her hold again every few seconds convinced him it wasn't a pleasant one. She squirmed very slightly in his embrace, but he didn't hold her tighter.

She'd probably panic when she woke if he did. Instead she hushed her softly, hoping it would help.

Finally, after about 5 minutes, her hand relaxed and slid a little down his arm. The red mark she left stung, but Fang ignored it. It would have faded in a few hours a the most. Max stirred again, but this time opening her eyes and looking blearily into Fang's shirt.

Blackness.

She shot her head up, Fang's lightning reflexes saving him from another bruise on the jaw, and searched her surroundings. Her tired eyes took in the remains of their former house, the sun rising lazily over the tops of the trees between them and the strawberry patch. She looked round at Fang, her eyes meeting his as he lowered his head once more. Her panic resided as she looked into his familiar, if inexpressive eyes. She didn't remember falling sleep against him. She did, however, remember crying into his shirt.

_Crap._

The old Max kicked in as she wriggled from his grasp, not that Fang put up any kind of fight to keep her in his arms, and staggered to her feet. Every muscle felt like she'd sprained it as she stretched her arms and back, biting her lip to prevent a groan escaping her lips when her shoulder popped. Man, that gunshot hadn't done wonders for her health.

Fang stood and mimicked her, only clenching is fists a little as the recently underused muscles stretched and strained. Sleeping in that position hadn't helped. It was like he'd been huddled in a dog crate again, not good after he'd only just got out of one for the second time in his life. He glanced at Max as she surveyed the old house properly for the first time. Last night she had been in no state to really look. He couldn't see her eyes, just the back of her head, but he imagined they mirrored his own disbelief and disgust. Finally, she looked round at him, her eyes as determined as she had been when Angel was first taken, but clouded by her other conflicting emotions.

He waited, not wanting to break the silence. Finally, Max did the honours.

"What do we do now?" It was almost a whisper, kind of scared but yet serious on its undertone. Fang suppressed his characteristic shrug and looked up at the sky.

"Should move," he answered simply, scanning the clouds for hidden choppers or planes. Maybe a flying wolf with a gun. Some may thing that's mad. To Fang, it was a possible threat. He heard Max sigh and looked back at her. She was rubbing the arm that had got shot slowly.

"Painful?" He asked tentatively. It shouldn't be by now, had been a long time since the incident. To his relief she shook her head.

"The chip." Now her answers were beginning to mirror Fang's simplistic ones. He looked down at where she was rubbing, sure what she was trying to imply but wanted to check his other fear.

"The chip is painful?" She gave him a strained look, as if asking why he wasn't using his brain. The simple answer was he was using _more_ of his brain, and was concerned. Not that he hadn't been before, it just seemed more at the front of his mind now. After loosing almost all his family and all.

"If this chip is a tracer, we've already been here way too long. I agree, we should move." There was a more Max like answer. Fang nodded in response, unfurling his wings in one swoop.

"Alright to fly?"

"Of course."

With the confirmation he wasn't sure he could fully believe, Fang pushed up of the ground and took to the air, his wings glinting a dark purple in the sunlight. He noted a slight pain in his shoulders as be beat his wings, probably from not being used for two months then abused to fly all the way home yesterday. He looked down as he soared higher, checking Max was on his tail. She was. He movements weren't as graceful as his own, reminding him he needed to teach her those manoeuvres later. He waited for her to catch up, loitering in the sky, beating his wings just enough to keep him airborne until she was level with him.

"Where we gunna head?" He asked. It wasn't really that he wanted her to still tell him what to do. Now there was only two of them they were on an equal playing field, in his eyes anyway. But it was much simpler than that.

He didn't have any idea _where _to go.

He watched Max as she closed her eyes to think, mimicking his lazy strokes as she did so. He noted the dried blood under her nose, staining her skin a deep crimson all the way down to the bottom of her chin. Absentmindedly, he traced the blood path on his own face, wondering what kind of state he looked in at the moment. He was jolted out of thought as she looked up at him, letting him see the blood trail continue under her chin and a little down her neck.

"Were there any more tins at that cabin?" She was thinking of going back towards the school? Fang's instinct was telling him to go the other way, but he simply nodded in confirmation.

"Then we should head back here and grab what we can," she continued, turning her head to look the way they came. "Then we'll head East."

"Why East..?" Fang raised an eyebrow as he questioned her. Max shrugged her shoulders, flapping her wings to change direction and face that awful place once more.

"It just seems right."

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They'd been flying a good while. Max could see the trees surrounding the secluded house in the distance with her raptor vision. There was still no car in the drive, and the screen was still hanging at an awkward angle, the way she'd put it back after their hurried exit when they fell asleep on the way to get Angel.

Angel

Fresh tears stung her eyes as images of the innocent, sweet little mind reader floated through her head. Before and after what the whitecoats did to her. As she wiped her eyes on her sleeve she noticed she was still wearing Fang's jumper, distracting her from her depressive thoughts to look round at him. A few feet behind her, Fang was looking straight ahead, probably focusing on the house. He didn't seem to notice her as her eyes strayed to his arms and back. Through his thin shirt she could see his shoulders moving powerfully with every stroke of his wings, though being black it was hard to tell wing and shirt apart from her distance. He certainly didn't look cold. But then again, this was Fang. He could be dying and he'd proclaim it was a flash wound.

She smiled slightly, still gazing at him. He could be silly sometimes, trying to be tough and untouchable. He had certainly been the strongest of the whole flock, physically and emotionally to the outside world. She'd seen some emotions in his eyes before, even if it was just a flash, he'd let her see. She felt like he trusted her, she certainly trusted him.

Her right wing man.

Fang turned his head to see Max staring at him, a sweet smile on her face. He blinked, and instantly she was looking straight forwards at the house they were going to.

_Did I imagine that?_ he shook his head a little, tilting a few of his feathers to swoop closer to Max. _Must be loosing my mind…_

Max was glad she was a little way ahead of him, because there was a blush on her cheeks she was trying to shake. She hadn't expected him to catch her looking, and certainly hadn't expected to blush. What the hell was wrong with her? Recently she'd just been an emotional wreck. As many reasons as she may have had to have a breakdown, she still had one flock member to care for.

She couldn't afford to break down.

Suddenly, her head felt like Iggy had detonated a bomb inside it. The pain was excruciating, numbing all of her other senses as she squeezed her eyes shut. She gasped in pain, struggling to keep her wings flapping, shaking as the pain enveloped even her ability to think.

Fang let concern cover his face, not bothering to hide it as Max let out a cry and held her head. He noticed her flapping faltering and beat his wings faster to catch up. She was shaking, one wing beating more than the other, like she couldn't control it properly. As Fang got close enough to voice his concerns Max's wings folded after one final flap, and she began plummeting to the ground.

Fang didn't need to be told to fold his wings and drop after her.

Max just wanted to die. The freefall whipped her hair about her face, the jumper blowing up like a small balloon from the excess air. She couldn't concentrate on opening her wings even if she wanted to. She couldn't hear, and as she pried her eyes open against the pain everything looked fuzzy. She could see a black blob falling after her, pointed straight down like an arrow, slowly getting closer, then she squeezed her eyes shut once more, the pain enveloping the little amount of self control she still had.

It was so intense, she just wanted to hit the ground. To stop the pain.

Fang wasn't going to let that happen, dropping after her as straight as a pencil, wings folded tightly behind his back. He was gaining speed, and _very _fast, Max's curled up body getting closer every second. He saw her squint at him, her arms wrapped defensively around her head before she squeezed her eyes shut again. He could hear her crying out, the pain on her face echoed in her voice.

Finally he got close enough to hook his arms around her, one under her back, the other under her legs. Taking a deep breath he unfurled his wings, swallowing a curse as the wind caught him suddenly and pulled him back up, just clearing the trees below. He beat his wings steadily, regaining some of the altitude they had lost in their freefall as she gritted his teeth against the newly strained muscles in his shoulders and wings. As Max squirmed he tightened his arms around her, looking at her concerned.

Max's face was pressed into Fang's shirt for the second time in a day, her tears soaking it once more. Her eyes were screwed up tight, her fist clutching at a section as she shivered. Over the next ten minutes her grip lessened, and she lifted her head a little to look up at him. Fang looked down at her questioningly, receiving a very unsuccessfully reassuring smile before she leant her head back into his chest, mumbling something about a headache.

Max's senses finally came back to her as she rested against Fang. After the throbbing headache decided to greet her when her feeling returned, next came the doubt. How weak must he think she is now? She dared another glance at him, his face now set in stone as he slowly lost altitude. They were approaching the house.

She didn't want to worry him, but Max didn't exactly understand it herself. Had the school done something to her? Was it something to do with what Jeb had told her?

…Was she dying?

That last thought made her shudder, and she felt Fang's arms tighten a little around her. Blinking back a few stray tears and closing her eyes once more, Max tried to relax in his arms. She wanted to be the strong one. The unshakeable one. But it finally and properly dawned on her she didn't have to handle all this alone, and keeping quiet would just worry Fang more.

She settled into his arms and fell asleep once more, resigning herself a little grudgingly to be second in command.

Just until she felt better.


	3. Fooood: Edible and No So Edible

**Yay, part 3 is up, lol. Sorry if this appears to be going slow, but work with me :P Im kinda bad at the whole story writing thing anyway, so if you see needs for improvement, do point them out.**

**And thanks to the reviewer who pointed out I have my ages wrong. Rookie error XD. I couldnt find my book, so wasnt sure if it was 13 or 14, now i know its 14, and chapter one has been corrected. Cheers =D xxxx**

**K...reviews would be much appreciated lol, so i know people actually _like_ the darn thing :P**

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**Part 3**

Fang set down in the woods a little way from the house as quietly and smoothly as the crammed in trees would allow. Pulling his warm wings in tight against his back, he looked down to check on Max. She was sleeping peacefully, her head flopped back a little and resting against his chest. Grateful she was still sound asleep, Fang walked the ten minutes from his landing spot to the house.

A quick scan of the place confirmed there was certainly no one home. Figuring it would be damn near impossible to pull the screen off, open the window and drop Max through without waking her before getting in himself, he carefully laid her against the porch, taking his hand away very slowly. She fidgeted slightly, and curled against the wall he rested her head against. In a matter of seconds Fang had slid inside the house, unlocked the front door and was carrying max inside, bumping the door shut with his hip.

Stepping softly on the stairs, he flinched as the first step creaked in protest beneath him. He glowered at it, before proceeding to the next. This one also creaked. He muttered something under his breath. If it was just him, he could have got up there without making a sound. He and Max's combined weight was harder to balance. Swiftly, he took the stairs as fast as he could manage, stopping dead on the landing to look down at Max once again.

Still fast asleep.

_Must have been one hell of a headache…_ Fang thought, easing a door open with his back and peeking in. It was a bedroom. Everything looked dusty, some sheets covered the bed and the chairs, probably to keep the dust off them. He padded almost soundlessly across the soft carpet and gently placed Max on the bed, gently laying her head on the pillow before stepping back.

She mumbled something, mentioning Gazzy's name, then rolled over and curled up, stretching a wing out before folding it loosely against her back once more. Fang smiled as crept back out the door, pulling it to. He flinched as it creaked on the last few inches.. He headed silently back downstairs and into the kitchen.

The fridge was still wide open and empty.

Fang pawed through the cupboards, pulling out all of the cans he'd left behind the last time and lined them up along the counter. Examining them, he raised an eyebrow. How many people stayed at this place? Even after their last raid on the place there was still enough to feed a small army in tins here.

Or two hungry Avian Americans, at least.

Fang divided the cans into two sets, mainly the same kind of thing on each side. He did the same with two cans of condensed milk, the stuff Max had held up to him on their last visit. Curiosity getting the better of him, he opened a tin of condensed milk and took a precautionary sniff. He reeled backwards a little, blinking a few times. It smelt like that 'toffee' Max had made a few years ago that just remained a squidgey mess. Admittedly, she really wasn't a cook, but he still wondered today _why_ it had tasted so…wrong.

He tilted the tin and eyed the gooey substance. Finally, he shrugged and downed a mouthful of the stuff. Oh god it was so sickly sweet! He spat it into the sink, wiping his mouth on his arm and looking at the back of the time. Most of the ingredients he'd never heard of. Mostly, he just wished he had a toothbrush.

Placing the open can on the windowsill, Fang made sure to remove the condensed milk from Max's food pile as well. Piling his own tins on top of one another and balancing the wobbly tower between his palm and chin, grabbing a fork out of the drawer and knocking it shut with his leg. Settling onto the sofa he'd fallen asleep on a few months before, the tower of tinned treats collapsed and scattered onto the wooden table. He flinched at the sound, listening for any movement upstairs.

One eraser, two erasers, three erasers…no sound. Sighing in relief, he picked up a tin of ravioli and rammed the fork under the pull pin. Pulling it almost completely off, he speared some of the contents of the and placed it in his mouth. Chewing on it slowly, he couldn't hold in a small smile.

Real food. Or as close to it as he ate normally. It tasted _good_.

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Max had no idea how long she was out for. Her brain felt fuzzed over as she blinked sleepily, trying to make sense of her surroundings.

_Where am I?_ Old habits took control as she shot upright, doing a three-sixty of her surroundings. She certainly didn't recognise the room she was in. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down. Instead she just ended up in a sneezing fit. When it had died, she finally started to think logically.

Where had she been last? With Fang…the headache…

Tentatively, she touched her head. Whatever the headache had been, it was gone without a trace. She'd been in Fang's arms. He'd started angling down. Maybe this was a different room in the same house, it kind of smelt the same…dusty. Looking about, she saw most of the furniture, including the bed, seemed to have thin sheets thrown over them. All were absolutely covered in dust. Max wrinkled her nose and swung her legs off the bed, getting to her feet and leaving the dust cover askew.

She softly stepped down the stairs, managing to make only a couple of them creak beneath her. No wonder she could never sneak up on Fang. At the bottom, she peered around the corners. Yep, this was certainly the same house. In the kitchen was a pile of ten cans, a fork balanced precariously on top of the upper most one. Taking the last few steps in one, long stride and heading over. Her stomach rumbled as she picked up as many as she could carry, carrying the fork between her teeth to maximise can-carrying capabilities. Happily, she half skipped into the living room, whereupon she found Fang.

He was sprawled over the length of the couch, his long legs folded over one of the arms and his head rested against the other. Carefully sliding past his feet she peeked round to look at his face. His face was as straight as usual, but he had a certain…calmness about him. His brows weren't furrowed, and his jaw and shoulders were relaxed.

Max smiled, lightly flopping into the arm chair and carefully putting her cans down on the table, leaving one in her lap. Looking back over as she pulled the pin on a can of spaghetti, she noticed the scattered empty cans littering the table and around his chair. His arm laid restfully on his chest, still holding a fork.

Finally, since the incident at the school, she really _looked_ at him.

His shirt looked crinkled and dirty. Dark stains bordered the slits in his shirt where eraser claw had met flesh, and more covered the neck of his shirt. Max put her hand to her nose, unsure if some of the blood spatter further down was from him or her. It was then she noticed the dried blood on her own face, and traced it down half way down her neck. Raising quietly to her feet, she slipped back past his gangly legs to find the bathroom. Not bothering to lock the door, she checked her appearance in the mirror.

Now, Max wasn't a girly girl, in any sense of the word. But even she was a little shocked at her appearance. Healed gashes, now showing as fades scars slightly raised off her bony face, covered her cheeks and forehead. A couple of bruises were fading to a ghastly yellow on her head and cheek. Tilting her head up, she looked at the dried blood on her neck and under her jaw.

It looked like someone had put her in a wood chipper and pulled her out at the last second.

She pulled absently at her stringy, dirty hair. It was way longer than she usually kept it, now sweeping to past her shoulders, looking lank and lifeless. Leaning closer, Max looked at her eyes. Black lines framed them, and it looked like she had a bruise against the bridge of her nose. Looking into her own eyes, she wasn't sure what she saw. They looked tired, bloodshot. Rubbing them gently she had another look, but still saw the same emptiness.

Deciding to get Fang to stop in a shop for a hairbrush on the way…well, East, she brushed through it with her fingers, running the events of the last few months once again through her head. It no longer brought so close to tears at the thought. In its place, anger welled up inside her. The whitecoats took almost everything that mattered to her.

How did Jeb expect her to save the world if she had nothing to live for?

_Save the world…_ she stopped running her fingers trough her hair and stared blankly at a spot in the mirror. What had he meant by that? It wasn't like there was a huge catastrophe coming or anything…was there? It wasn't worth thinking about right now. They needed to get a move on and get the hell away from the School. East seemed good. She wasn't sure why, but it was certainly a long way away from that horrid place. Giving up making her hair look any less messy, she cupped her hands under the running water and drank a huge gulpful, rubbing the rest over the blood stains until they came off her skin. Finally content she looked less like a zombie extra, she wandered back into the living room and flopped onto the sofa.

Fang fidgeted a little as he woke, rolling onto his side as he opened his eyes a little. A few seconds later he looked like he'd never been asleep, wide awake and alert, watching Max happily munch her way through her third tin of spaghetti.

"Feeling better?" Max looked over at him, the fork still in her mouth. Fang smirked slightly as she nodded, pulling the fork out of her mouth and returning it to spear more food from the tin.

"What was wrong?" Max didn't look up until she'd finished the can off, speaking as she scraped her fork around the sides.

"I dunno…one second I was fine the next my head felt like it exploded…mmm…" she closed her eyes as the fork, now covered in tomato, ended up back in her mouth. She looked back at fang, reading the concern as she removed the fork from her mouth.

"I really don't know what it was," she stated a little more seriously, placing the empty can on the table and reaching for one of ravioli. "I mean, it felt like my brain exploded…then it faded after a while, and now its gone…"

Fang just watched her silently. Of course, he had his own ideas and fears running through his head. The main one being that the school didn't have a damn clue what they were doing when they played with genetics, and nothing they'd every made was particularly stable. Erasers grew quickly, but fell apart in about four years time. Some day an expiration date would appear on their necks, and on that day they'd fall into a pile of…well…dead eraser, he guessed,

"Fang..?" His attention snapped from his thoughts and back to her. He quickly saw the fear in her eyes, the can of Ravioli remaining unopened on her lap.

"Mm..?" He sat up a little, keeping his eyes on her.

"Could you…check for…you know..?" She motioned to the back of her neck with her fork, not wanting to actually say what she was afraid of. Fang understood straight away. In response he got up and walked over to her, sliding between the chair and the wall. He felt her tense as he folded his jumper away from her neck, followed by her own tattered jumper. Below that was her shirt, the last barrier between him and her neck. Hesitating for a few seconds, he finally bit the pullet and material away from her neck.

A few seconds of silence followed. Max fidgeted uncomfortably. To her, it felt like hours.

"Fang..?" her voice sounded scared, even if she was trying to cover it. She wasn't very good at it, had always worn her heart on her sleeve despite her iron resolve. Fang folded the layers back against her neck, sighing in relief.

"No expiration date," he said as he made his way back to his sofa, balancing against the arm nearest Max. She looked relieved, her hands holding the ravioli can so tightly it had started to dent in the middle. Though he didn't show it, he was as relieved as she was. She wasn't dying. Yet. But that left a good few of his questions unanswered. He was burning to ask another as Max peeled open the ravioli and stuffed a forkful in her mouth.

"What about Jeb?" She looked up at him, still chewing her currently mouthful hungrily. Swallowing, she played with the contents f the tin with her fork, not sure what to really say to explain it. Finally, she simply said:

"I think…I dunno…I guess he was lying again." Fang raised an eyebrow, wondering what he had told her.

"What did he say?" he pushed a little. He could see how him being vague had annoyed Max now, especially as this was something important.

"He said I have to save the world…" Max said, looking back up into his eyes. Fang's eyebrows shot upwards, even if the rest of his face remained straight an non-emotive. Max read this as surprise. She was used to his small ways of expressing a big emotion.

"He didn't expand on it at all, just said that." She continued, spearing some of the food on a fork and holding it up to inspect it. Fang lowered his eyebrows, trying to read Max's face, but he wasn't sure she knew what to be feeling right now. It was blank, no real emotion to cling to. They sat in silence as Max slowly devoured the contents of the tin, reaching for another. Fang pushed himself off the chair.

"Bathroom," he explained, wandering down the hall. Max just nodded once and pulled the pin on her can, finally beginning to feel full up. Fang wandered into the bathroom, locking the door behind him from habit.

His reflection caught his attention as he washed his hands, and he looked up. The bruise on his jaw had almost faded. You could see where it used to be if you looked hard enough. Squinting slightly, he tilted his head this side and that, looking for any blood stains or cuts and bruises. He had much less compared to Max, making him wonder if she took too many blows for him when they made their escape. With a wet finger, he rubbed the small streak of blood on his left cheek away and examined his shirt.

It needed to be thrown no doubt. Claw marks and blood covered it, though the blood wasn't _too_ visible on black. She ran his fingers through his over long hair, which tangled in it instantly.

_Dang this is getting annoying_. _I should hack it off like Max does._ Finally, he took one last look in the mirror to check he got all the blood and unlocked the door, heading back to the living room.

Max was curled on the sofa, having finished her last can of food. The fork rested inside the can on the table, her arms were curled up under her chin and she rested her head against the back rest. She opened her eyes as Fang re-entered the room.

"Ready to go?" he asked, itching to get moving. If they stayed too long I one place they might be found. That and he wanted to get back into the skies. He felt much more at home there than in a house.

"Almost," Max replied, pulling her arms out of Fang's jumper sleeves and wriggling to pull it over his head. She threw it at Fang, who caught it, giving her a raised eyebrow.

"Your turn to be warm," Max stated simply, jumping up from the chair and heading towards the kitchen as she pulled her tattered excuse for a jumper off. "Did we eat all the food, or is there something we can bring with us?" Fang just shook his head as she threw her jumper in the bin.

"The ravioli was the last," he said, wriggling into his jumper. "We can stop in a town."

"Good idea," Max said, wandering back over to him, waiting for him to get his jumper back on. "I need a hairbrush." Fang smirked.

"A hairbrush? You're going to get girly on me?" Max scowled, giving him a playful shove.

"Well, I need to look at least a little human don't I? If we're going to be visiting towns and all…" Fang just nodded silently, straining a little to keep his face straight as Max opened the window and slid half out.

"Besides, you could do with a bit of preening yourself," she smirked, leaping out of the window and up into the sky.

Fang blinked and briefly ran his hand through his hair, where it got knotted almost instantly. He agreed with her, but wouldn't giver her the satisfaction of knowing it. Returning his face to its usual impassive cover, he slid out the window after her, replacing the screen before taking off into the sky, his purple wings glistening in the sunlight.


	4. Mini Makeover and a Secret

**Yar, college finished today. Which means I now have w-h-aaaaaaay too much time on my hands for a girl my age. So, he's another update for you. The one for Friday will probably be late, due to the fact I'm going to visit my pregnant friend, because she's sad.**

**Huuuuge thank you to **dallascowboysncountrymusicfan **for commenting on _every_ chapter so far =D Loyalty deserves cookies, if I had any... I.O.U lol**

**Oh, and i might also end up at hospital soon, which would take at least 4 hours of a day away, maybe more if i have to stay there... x.x so updates may falter some time next week. Until then, it should be every day, aint it awsome? =D also, i will get on with the story soon. Like, next chapter. Hehe.

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**Part 4**

Though she knew he was doing it as a precaution, Max was glad Fag had decided to fly so close to her. She wasn't going to _admit_ it, as such, but she was glad. Since the rest of the flock had gone, it had just seemed…dead. Wherever they were, there just wasn't that background noise they used to have.

And Fang wasn't exactly a talker.

He'd swooped up beside her and matched his wing strokes to hers, his graceful purple tinged wing just brushing against her own tawny one on the down stroke. Its what Nudge used to do when they were gossiping and having a fly around, and Max found it comforting. Though she was pretty sure Fang was doing it in case she had another brain attack and tried to fall to her death again.

Fang was certainly doing it as a precaution. He didn't need to loose the last thing he cared for in such close proximity to loosing the rest of the flock, let alone in a messy free falling accident. Occasionally he'd sneak a glance at her, her cheeks and eyes slightly pink from the wind whipping her face. He imagined he didn't look much better. He did, however, notice the small smile on her face as she rode the wind currents, one he hadn't really seen since Angel was taken.

She looked…happy. At home. He was certain sure he felt more at home in the sky, but it didn't soothe him the way it seemed to be soothing Max. She'd seemed more like her old self since her long nap in the house. He had no idea how long both of them had been out. A few hours into their flight and the sun looked like it was getting ready to go to sleep.

"Can we stop here?" His attention was drawn back to Max, following her arm as she pointed to a small town below them. He looked back near the sun.

"Do shops stay open all night?" he asked. "Or close like the burger joints we…uh…forage in the dumpsters of?"

"Probably close," Max answered, looking up at him. "Check it out?"

Fang simply nodded and angled his feathers to begin a descent, lightly catching his feathers on her cheek as he turned about. Max soon followed suit, if a little less gracefully. He hadn't taught her yet, but she was slowly picking it up on her own, watching him as he did the maneuvers to drop or raise. Settling a ten minute walk out of town, Fang waited for Max to join him, watching as she free fell for a few feet, then sprang out her wings near the floor to break her fall.

She was getting the hang of it.

"Nice," he commented, his eyes barely showing the admiration what his face refused to. Max picked it up, and smiled a little, before hiding it and shrugging like it didn't matter.

"No biggie."

The corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk before he started leading the way, Max jogging a little to catch up with him before sliding into step. Nearer the town, she pulled her wings tightly to her back, the warmth a little comforting in the chilly evening. Fang was fine, he had a massive jumper to cover his wings.

Max had to hold them tight and hope.

"Do we have much money left?" she queried, letting her eyes wander over the brightly decorated show windows. She heard him rummage in his pocket, pulling out a few notes and counting them.

Least Jeb had taught them to count, even if he didn't mention _money _in hardly enough depth. Like, Never.

"Fifty five," he responded a few seconds later, stuffing the notes back in his pocket. "Planning on getting a manicure?" He smirked as she shoved his arm playfully. Typical Max.

"Hell no," she responded. Obviously she wasn't too worried about censoring her language now there wasn't a young mind reader slash impressionable child around to pick it up. "You need a shirt," she continued, still studying the shops around them.

"So do you," Fang retorted. "And a jumper. _And _some trousers. _And_ a hairbrush"

Max looked down at her own shirt, sighing as she saw the blood spatter and slash marks. It wasn't as bad as Fang's, but it looked worse because it was a lighter colour. Stopping, she tilted her leg to inspect the damage on her trousers. Fang was right,t hey needed to go too. Looking up, she noticed a few people walking past on the other side of the road, giving her a look over.

Shock with a dash of surprise, for a better, richer flavour.

"Damn, thought I just needed a jumper." She muttered, still walking forwards and looking about her. "But you need the brush as much as I do."

"Right," she heard Fang mutter, following a little way behind her.

"Here," His voice came a few minutes later, a little behind her, and she spun round. He was standing by the door of a shop, waiting for her to come back. "Its cheap," he added as she made her way back to him, taking a peak in the doorway as well.

"So it is." Max approved, taking a few steps inside. Fang followed her in and immediately vanished towards the male side of the store. Max blinked, noticing him amongst the shirts, and wandered to the girls side of the store.

"Too frilly…too spotty…too bright…too...just…yuck…" she flicked shirt after shirt aside before moving to another rail.

"Frills…pink...odd pattern…I…don't even know who that character is…HAH!" She proclaimed, possibly too loudly for the small shop as she pulled a plain, dark green shirt from the rack to inspect it closer. Yup, it was a plain green shirt.

Perfect.

The hairs on the back of her neck shot up as she span round to meet…Fang. She narrowed her eyes, putting her hands on her hips.

"I said don't _do_ that!" she exclaimed in a slightly hushed yell, having noticed the strange look from the cashier.

"What, breathing?" He answered coolly, quickly holding up a defenseless black shirt between them. "I'm all sorted, you?"

"Almost…" Max mumbled, attempting to glare a hole in his shirt. "Just need a jumper…give me a few seconds?"

Fang nodded. "Trousers too, don't forget. I'll be by the cashier."

It took Max about a minute to choose a jumper. It was baggy around her middle but fit close around her hips, dark grey in colour. A zip went from the neck to about half way down the chest, stopping a few inches short of a large pocket with an opening on either side for her hands. It had pull strings on the neck to tighten it.

Max had already decided she'd probably hack it off with scissors, as soon as possible while she browsed the rack of combat trousers. Pulling out a black pair, she turned it over his her hands as she'd seen other people in the shop do, the shirt and jumper hanging on her elbows.

Shrugging, she wandered back to Fang. It was a pair of trousers, what was there to look at?

He took her choices from her, not really paying attention, and handed it to the woman behind the cash point who had already put the rest of the stuff through. Fang had always had a better grasp on numbers, but she looked at the price anyway.

The machine went _ping_ as the price came up, lit in luminous green. $27.95

She frowned as Fang handed over the money, sure something wasn't quite adding up here. Jeb had taught them all _some_ maths before he disappeared. _Everything_ they'd bought had £5 stamped on them on a little piece f card.,

_Four fives are…eleventy plus the nine…GAH! I think it isn't that…is it? _Max thought to herself as Fang got his change, little metal disc things, and took the bag from the woman, thanking her with a nod before heading for the door. Just deciding her maths had gone even more up the creek in the last few years, Max shrugged and followed him back into the streets.

Less people were wandering past now, and it was getting a little darker. She looked at Fang as he rummaged through the bag and pulled out a small slip of paper, staring at it for a few seconds then throwing it aside.

"We need scissors." He stated simply, looking up at Max. She looked about in the half light, bulbs on sticks lining the street starting to glow a dull orange as the sun retreated.

"Over there?" she asked, pointing to a wool and knitwear shop. The window was lined in a stick on bored of tape measure, a ball of wool being unraveled by a cute looking kitten and random pairs of scissors placed over the wool like it was going to cut it. Fang nodded in response, and they headed over, thankful it was still open.

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"S'cuse me, ma'am?" Fang was the one to approach a bemused looking shop assistant as Max hung back to examine some of the stuff this shop seemed to sell. Balls of material were organised into colour coordinated baskets, all with different numbers, presumably pieces, stuck to the paper holding them together. It felt like the material a few of Angel's winter clothes had been made of, all fluffy and well…woolly. Max briefly wondered how you could turn that into a wearable thing until she was interrupted by Fang, walking towards her holding a small paper bag.

"Got some?" she asked, putting the ball of wool back in the wrong basket.

"Yup, no hairbrush though." Fang replied, fishing about in the bag and pulling out a small slip of paper. "God knows why they waste these things…" he muttered, throwing the receipt into one of the wool baskets and heading for the door.

"What's even on it?" Max queried as she jogged to catch up, making the bell jingle as she left the shop.

"What I just bought," Fang shrugged, throwing the bag aside and attacking the plastic wrapping around the scissors. "I mean, why would I need them to tell me what I bought, when I just bought it?" Max shrugged, following very slightly behind him as he wrestled with the plastic packaging.

The world was _way_ weird sometimes.

Finally, after biting it a few times Fang got the plastic off. He found it ironic you seemed to need scissors to open a new pair of scissors. Shrugging, he slipped them in his pocket.

"Might be a bit odd, you know?"

Max nodded. They didn't need to attract any more unnecessary attention to themselves, and cutting up brand new shirts, she was pretty sure, wasn't something normal people did. Instead, they slipped into an alley way, slipping behind a dumpster and flopping against the wall. Man towns weren't fun. She was glad they weren't somewhere busier, just this place had her on edge.

Fang gave a very small grunt straight after he flopped and pulled the scissors from his pocket, rubbing his leg as he held them out to me. Assuming he just stabbed himself, that was the Fang equivalent of a yelp.

"Ladies first." She stuck her tongue out a little and took them from him as he pulled the bag towards him, pulling out her new jacket, shirt and trousers and throwing them to her. Max carefully cut slits in the backs of her new clothes. Carefully meaning jamming the scissors in a little way away from the middle on each side and cutting a huge slash. Turning to hand Fang the scissors and demand he turn his back, she saw him quickly shove something in his pocket. Max blinked.

"What was that?" she asked as he took the scissors from her.

"Nothing," came his very Fang-like reply as he began to cut slits in his new shirt. "Just one of those label things…"

Deciding against further questioning, Max simply shrugged. "Going to turn around any time soon?"

"If you do," he replied, pulling off his jacket to reveal his well and truly dumpster worthy shirt. Max turned, peeking over her shoulder to check he had as well, then pulled off her old, tatty shirt and chucked it into the dumpster. She slipped her new shirt on. It fit nicely, just a little baggy but still not baggy enough to get grabbed by an angry eraser. Next she did the same with her trousers, pulling their drawstring tight around her flat stomach. Wriggling into her jumper, she turned around to see Fang pulling on his own jumper, his new shirt fitting much better than the old, grown-out of one.

"We better find somewhere to camp," she said as his head popped out the neck hole. He acknowledged her with a nod, though it was somewhat swallowed by his jumper as he pulled it under his chin and slipped his arms into the sleeves.

"Not much money left, get some food to take?" Max was still surprised he was letting her call the shots, since it was just the two of them now. Though she was kind of glad, she was also kind of disappointed. She finally didn't want to do this alone and he was being…well, Fang.

"Max?" He jolted her back to reality and she looked back at him. He had one eyebrow raised, concern in his eyes. "Headache again?"

"No…no…" Max shook her head slightly, laughing a little on the final no. "Just…thinking. Yeah, food would be good, we're going to be hungry later, right?"

Fang lowered his eyebrow, but Max could feel him trying to guess what she had been thinking. Finally, he nodded.

"There's a store over there," he motioned left with his head. "Looks more foody."

"Foody?" Max queried with a grin, taking a few steps after him as he stated out of the alley way.

"What would _you _say?" Fang asked, a smirk adorning his own face. He got her there. Instead, she shrugged, thinking on the spot.

"Food…..store?" She attempted, trying to sound as confident in her idea as possible.

Fang tilted his head to the side. "Mm…give you that one. Come on. Before it closes." He took her wrist and pulled her a little faster into the store, Max almost falling over her own feet.

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Having spent almost all of the remainder of their money on food and drink, they set off into the woods. Fang set up a camp fire, having a little difficulty with lighting the fire from just rocks and twigs. Something Iggy had been brilliant at but until now never realised how much he would miss it. Max was setting all the food stuffs near the non-existent fire, keeping the bottles of drink set well back away from it to keep them as cold as possible.

"I miss Iggy," Fang muttered as he threw yet another useless rock away and attempted the stick-on-stick method instead. "He was good at the fire thing."

"Yeah, except when he was making things explode, then he was just a pain." Max recalled aloud, smiling slightly. She set a bottle of fizz next to Fang and flopped down next to him, her own bottle in her arms. Maybe it had been overkill getting two litre bottles, but they would last all night at least.

"Yeah…" Fang agreed softly, most of his concentration on rubbing sticks. Finally, smoke piled out from between the sticks and a fire sprung into life. Fang sat back in triumph, opening his fizz to take a swig.

They spent the next few hours exploring if what they bought could be cindered on a fire and still be edible. Fang stuck to bacon and other similar food stuffs, sausages and other lumps of meat. Max however, was content to melt chocolate on things and mutter incoherent mumblings of happiness as it oozed down her throat.

After a few hours of studying the extent of melted chocolate, Max settled against a tree, happy and full. Fang was laying flat on his back, staring at the stars and chewing the last piece of bacon he'd cooked. Empty packets of chocolate, marshmallows, crackers, bacon, thin steaks and sausages littered their feet as they sat contently, just enjoying the piece and quiet.

"Do you really think they're dead..?" The question took Fang off guard, and he turned to look at Max. She was also staring up at the stars, twiddling a marshmallow between her fingers.

"Dunno, you?" It wasn't exactly the words of wisdom she had hoped for, but at least they were taking about it. She shrugged, looking down at him.

"I mean, the school wouldn't just…kill things they'd gone through such an effort to round up, would they? If they wanted us dead, they could have just got Ari to shoot us or rip our heads off or something."

"I guess," Fang replied, glancing up at the stars once more. He missed the kids, and had been trying not to think about it since they returned to their burned out shell of a home. He certainly hadn't thought about it that way before. Unfortunately, he couldn't think as hopefully as Max.

"I think its safer to assume they are dead…" he said slowly, feeling Max's eyes turn to him but keeping his concentration on the sky. "It'll hurt more if you convince yourself they're alive, and they aren't."

Max didn't want to admit he had a point, so instead just sighed and slumped a little more against the tree, bunging the marshmallow in her mouth and chewing it slowly. A few more minutes of silence followed as the pair just stared at the stars, letting their minds run free.

"I'm on first watch." Max finally said, looking back down to Fang. He opened his mouth to protest, but she simply cut him off. "Nope. I've slept more than you recently. I'm taking first watch. Sleep."

Fang shrugged and rolled over, resting his head against the cool dirt. "Wake me in four hours."

"I will." Max answered, deciding she'd take at least five hours as Fang fell asleep beside her.


	5. New York! New York!

**Alrighty, next ones up a little later than usual, but i had a busy day with blood tests and things ;D But here it is...now i just need to write tomorrow's lol... *nose deep in The Angel Experiment to make sure she gets some of the details right, and figuring ways round stuff***

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***hangs do not disturb sign round her neck before continuing***

**Oh, reviews would be awesome, just so you know :) it makes me happeh, which means updates, which means people who read it are happy, which means reviews, which means updates...its a luffleh fluffy circle of luff and happiness... =D So please review, dudes...and dames.**

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**Part 5**

Max fell asleep seconds after she'd woken Fang up, not that it took Fang very long to be awake enough to keep watch. He wasn't a big sleeper. He'd have no problem sitting up for the rest of the night. There was only one real problem:

It was damn boring.

Absently he looked down at Max, having propped himself up against a tree. She was using her jumper as a pillow, her arm folded beneath it is she slept. A slight smile was on her face as she slept, and Fang couldn't help but follow suit.

_She looks pretty when she smiles, _he thought absently, resisting the urge to brush stray hair from her face in case he woke her. Then her face creased a little, and she shivered before curling up slightly. It didn't take him more than a seconds thought to pull of his own jumper and lay it across her.

The smile soon returned, but Fang shivered.

Shuffling closer to the fire, Fang fished about in the food bag and pulled out a hairbrush. Apparently that store hadn't just been food, but an 'everything-a-hybrid-could-ever-want-and-more' store, including scissors. But that wasn't important. Pulling out the pair from the previous shop, he cut the cardboard from around the end of the hairbrush and looked it over. Being a last second purchase, they had chosen the cheapest one in the whole store with their last few cents. Max had run off to find one when she remembered it, holding up the queue behind them. It looked flimsy. He could probably break it in half without even trying. Not that he planned to. Instead he took it to his hair, seizing the opportunity to do something Max would tease him about while she slumbered.

He bit his lip and swallowed curse words as the brush caught on and tackled knot after knot. Finally, the teeth of the brush moved smoothly through his hair, and he felt it handling loosely behind him and around is face. It was still dirty, Fang could smell it, but it passed as more normal than when it had looked like he'd never brushed it in his life.

He'd never admit to Max he even a tiny bit about his hair. Or that it took half an hour to untangle.

He spent the rest of the night shimmying closer to the fire, trying to get as close as possible without getting burnt. Its easier said than done with long hair when you're _that_ cold, but Fang managed it. He also kept adding wood to the fire, shivering occasionally and wishing he still had his jumper. He swallowed, pulled his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them as he stared into the flames.

_Suck it up. Max needs it more._

As the sun began to break between the trees, Fang shifted from his vigil to fetch the last few packs of bacon from the previous night. He knew Max wouldn't save any chocolate from her happy murmurings. He swallowed a groan as his legs protested to the movement and shook them a little to make them feel _less_ like lead. He spent the next thirty minutes spearing bits of bacon on sticks and leaning them over the fire, desperately trying not to burn them. Not much success there.

Max stirred as the bacon was beginning to look as if it couldn't take much more abuse. Fang was struggled to keep them at the right distance from the fire as he looked round at her. He smiled a little as he saw her pull herself into a technically upright position and rub her eyes, yawning silently. Turning back, he noticed his bacon was on fire.

_Crap!_ Fang quickly removed it from the flame and blew on it, the fire going out almost as quickly as it started. Max sleepily opened her eyes, her blurry vision fixing on Fang staring at a black piece of bacon on a stick.

Fang, wearing a close fitting shirt, with bacon.

To Max, she'd died and gone to heaven.

"Hey," she mumbled after a few seconds, having covered the laughter from the face he was giving the bacon. He looked at her with a heart melting smile, one of the rare shows of emotion he graced anyone with.

"Hey." Fang he replied, before turned his attention back to the bacon. Having got the on fire bacon to go out, he inspected it. Yep, it was evenly as obliterated on each side. As perfectly cooked as he was going to manage.

Max felt material flop against her leg, and she looked down confused. Noticing after a few fuzzy seconds it was Fang's jumper, she looked up. Nope, he wasn't wearing one. She felt kind of guilty it was now a little dirty, and without it she shivered. Resisting the urge to pull it over her own she rolled it into a ball and crawled forwards.

"Why do I have your jumper?" She asked as she flopped next to him and plonked the rolled up jumper in his lap.

"You shivered," Fang shrugged, de-spearing bacon onto a reasonably flat rock and holding it out to her. Max frowned a little.

"You could get sick," she protested, not lifting her hands from her lap.

"Since when have we got sick?" Fang questioned, waving the bacon under her nose until she took it. He started piling bacon onto his own rock.

"Not the point, Fang." Max retorted, biting a lump of a piece of bacon and dropping it again as it started to burn her hand. "I might be sick, remember? The headaches? We don't need both of us with issues."

Fang just shrugged as he took a bite of his bacon, leaning backwards a little. "I'm not cold." He stated simply, daring to look at her again. He was so lying. he had goosebumps.

"And _how_ long have you been without a jumper?" Max was letting her bacon cool. She had no idea how Fang was still holding that bacon and not have a hole in his hand.

"Since you shivered," he answered vaguely, looking down at his bacon before putting the rest of his piece in his mouth. He pulled a funny face as he chewed, then swallowed. Max wanted to bite him, but instead took it out on her breakfast.

"I _really_ miss Iggy's breakfasts." Fang mumbled as he ate the less obliterated half of his next piece of bacon. "I'm no chef."

"You and me both…" Max replied as she inspected her last piece of bacon. It was basically black. In fact, it resembled a lump of coal rather than a piece of bacon. "Beggars cant be choosers," Max mumbled as she stomached the last piece of bacon, trying to keep her face as straight as possible. Putting the now slightly greasy rock aside, she took a long swig of her fizz-less pop.

"Here," Max looked over, seeing Fang was holding out a hairbrush to her. "You might need this before we do anything else."

"What? You don't like it how it is?" she smirked as she took it from him, grateful he'd remembered it was in the bag.

"Looks lovely. Others might not agree." Nice reply. She inspected his hair, noting he'd probably already used it. Pulling it through her own locks, she bit her lip to keep as many of her numerous yelps to herself. Having not brushed her hair for two and a bit months, it wasn't exactly co operative. Finally, it fell loosely around her face and shoulders, sun streaks making her eyes look brighter.

"Now it just needs a wash," Fang remarked, smirking at the face Max pulled.

"You can talk, Fang." She retorted, and he tilted his head sideways a little, in his 'you-got-me-there' fashion. Smiling slightly, Max handed the brush back to him. He just put it in his jumper pocket. It was much like her own and had no zips. Max wondered if someone could get seriously hurt from being hit by a falling hairbrush.

"We should probably get moving," Max commented after a few moments. "In case...you know…" she self-consciously rubbed her arm where the chip was concealed. Fang nodded in agreement and stood as he pulled his jumper over his head.

"We cant take off here," he stated, looking about him. "We'll have to find the edge of the forest before we can fly.

"No problem," Max replied, turning to take a random path out of the woods. Fang simply followed, knowing better than to confront Max's leadership 'instincts'.

If they'd kept going the same way, they would have found their way out of the forest in about half an hour at the most. Instead, they relied on Max's sense of direction, which changed every twenty minutes or so due to being unsure if she was going the right way. Fang sighed as they passed a tree he'd marked with scissors for a _fifth_ time, but didn't say anything. Max liked being the leader, even if it was just the two of them. Instead, he just told her he agreed with her first direction.

After two hours of aimless wandering, they found the outskirts.

Only Fifteen minutes of that was after Fangs reassurance.

Fang stood back to let Max take off first. He wanted to believe she was fine, but he'd rather be safe than sorry. Max looked a little huffy, but took a run up and leaped into the air. Her tawny wings grazed the ground on her first down stroke. Fang watched her for a minute. He had to admit she looked fine, there was no wobbling in her take off or her current flying. After a little longer, he spread his wings wide. It wouldn't take too long to catch up with her.

That's when it happened.

Fang didn't notice Max's wings faltering until he was in the air himself. He'd taken his time after seeing her flying smoothly, enjoying the air fwoosh past his face and the feel of it under his feathers. He noted she was beginning to wobble a few moment later. There was a good distance between them, not enough time to catch up if she fell now. Beating his wings as fast as he could, he started to catch up with her.

She was already loosing altitude.

Fang sloped downwards slightly, letting gravity help him get his speed up, but it was no good. All he could do was cry out as Max's wings crumpled and she started to plummet. He turned down steeper, desperate to try and catch her even if logic told him it was futile. The ground was rushing up to meet him, and Max was still way out of arms reach. He saw her land with a thud, bouncing slightly and scraping along the floor, her wing being dragged through the dirt beneath her. Self preservation kicked in as Fang tilted his feathers and wings to avoid the ground, skimming his chin and elbow before getting back into the air. Quickly, he did a double back, dropping down to land just feet from where Max had finally stopped. He ran over and crouched down, quickly putting his fingers against her neck.

She had a pulse, but it was going haywire.

Carefully, he lifted her head, checking for bruises or signs of damage. She had nasty grazes all along her face, blood and dirt mixing in a ghastly grey colour. Her jumper had been ripped just once, a tear on her elbow, the dirt kind of blending in with the colour. Very carefully he gathered her against him, leaning her unhurt cheek against his chest. Her wing hung limply outwards while the other remained tightly held under her jumper. Max whimpered, her arms wrapped protectively around her head.

_What the hell is wrong with me?! _She managed to think between waves of pain.

If her head wasn't tearing itself apart she would have protested at being cradled by Fang yet _again_. Instead, she crumpled against him, shuddering as pain wracked her skull. It was worse this time, like pieces of her brain were falling away. Maybe it was dying. She really didn't know, but she wished she was dead as tears rolled down her cheeks.

What felt like a million miles away, she felt Fangs arm tighten around her shoulders and under her wing. He tried to soothe her, gently stroking her hair. After what seemed like forever, the pain became nothing but a dull thud. She swallowed a groan as she noticed her face scratched raw, aching. He wing felt like it had been in a food processor. She flexed it very carefully, flinching as new pain enveloped it.

She didn't need the help. She couldn't afford to break.

She tried to push him away, weakly, but Fang didn't try and hold her down. Instead, he let her push his arm away and stagger to her feet. Standing up himself, he inspected her face. She was no longer holding her head, but she looked ill. Frightened. He face was pale as she screwed up her eyes. A small trickle of blood started making its way down her chin as she held her arm.

"Max?" he ventured, taking a few steps forwards. She simply shook her head, swallowing hard. He didn't stop walking, but moved swiftly behind her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Maybe you should see a doctor…" he suggested softly, gently massaging the back of her neck, hoping she would come out of it. Again, she shook her head, struggling to speak.

"No…Fang, I'm fine. We cant go to a doctor. We can't…wings…" she managed to get out, slowly standing more upright and opening her eyes. Turning, she looked at Fang. His face was set, his jaw firm. He didn't agree with her. As he opened his mouth to voice his concerns, she cut him off.

"Lets just get going."

Fang stared at her a second. His eyes were intense but she couldn't pick out the emotion. She noted the graze on his chin, a little bloody but not too bad. She stared at him back, trying to look well enough to care for herself until he finally looked away.

"After you," he nudged towards the sky with his head, stretching his own wings out. Max mimicked him, trying her darn hardest not to show how much her wing hurt when she stretched it out. She saw Fang's eyebrows furrow.

Damn, he'd noticed.

Taking a run up, Max launched herself into the sky. Downstroke. _Ow_. Upstroke. _Owww_… She didn't need to give Fang any more reasons to be concerned, even if he had noticed her initial pain. It wouldn't feel too good tomorrow, but she planned to fake a smile until using it so much stretched the kinks out, as she predicted it would.

...That wuld work...Right?

He took to the sky straight after her, flapping fast to catch up them matching her strokes to fly next to her. She caught him watching her closely quite a few times, but didn't say anything about it.

Deep down, she knew he just cared.

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"I'm pretty sure we wont make it across there before nightfall." Fang said, staring out over the water.

"You think?" Max answered sarcastically, giving him a querying look. Fang simply gave her a smirk before looking out over the sea once more.

"Pretty though," Max mumbled after a few moments of silence. Fang nodded very slightly. The water was a soft blue, the sun glistening on its surface as it started to get lazy. Tey'd flown east until they'd been cut off by the incredible mass of water before them, basically a dead end this late in the evening, maybe competely. Max flopped down on the edge of the pier, dangling her feet over. Her legs didn't reach the water, which was good as she still had her shoes on. She was ignoring the throbbing pain pulsing through her wing, with reasonable success. Flying hadn't stretched the kinks out, but made them worse. Fang hadn't mentioned it to her since the incident. And still didn't as he settled beside her, continuing to look out over the sea.

"You think we're confined to a really small island or something?" he looked sideways at her question. She was still staring out to sea herself. He noted she had a small bulge under her jacket, at the back, the same side as her hurt wing. Assuming it wouldn't fold properly, he decided not to say anything. She could see a doctor for her headaches, but _not_ for a wing. It probably wasn't worth bringing up again.

Instead, he looked back out to sea, following her gaze over the water. Jeb had told them they lived in a place called America. Not that _that_ helped much. Giving it a name didn't exactly tell you if it was a tiny secluded island or a massive lump of rock. Fang had wondered the same thing a few times. If the computer had worked he'd probably have looked it up, but it was broken. They'd never gone on trips from their home, probably for very obvious reasons. Like gangly bird children standing out amongst other tourists.

"Nah," he answered softly, actually having to resist the urge to swing is feet like an excited toddler. It was his first visit to the beach after all. "I think s'huge. Took us ages to get here."

"Guess so," Max agreed. She'd already given in to the feet swinging thing, making Fang's job much harder. "Where do we go now?"

"Though you were our navigator," Fang replied, looking back at her. "Where do you want to go?"

"…North." Max answered quite quickly, taking one last glance out to sea. "See how big this lump of land is."

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"Wow…" was the only words to escape Max's lips as they flew over the city of New York. Bright lights engulfed the whole place, shining up way higher than it needed to into the darkening sky. They'd only been flying a short while, and it was…intriguing to Max, a big city. Even if it was crowded.

"Guess we wont be seeing the stars if we stay here." she observed, getting slightly blinded by the lights.

"Might have to," Fang said, his eyes still scanning over the city in interest. "Getting late."

Max noted his _incredibly_ short answers had made a comeback. Probably because he was peeved with her for pretending to be fine, or not wanting to see a doctor. Either way, she wasn't too keen on either idea. Fang didn't need to be thrust into the leader position because she seemed to be having a mental breakdown. Caring was one thing, but she felt like she was being babied.

"How can we even hear that music this high up?" Max queried, more to herself than Fang. Its beat was making her lingering headache pulse with a new fire.

"Concert." he answered her, nodding to the left with his head as she looked at him. Sure enough, big spotlights and speakers surrounded an elevated platform with a few people on it. The sea of people below looked like moving grass in the dim light. Max cringed.

"Not helping the headache?" She hated how he could read her sometimes. It was useful when they had to communicate silently. Now, it was just annoying. She nodded in response, looking about the rest of the city. Just a few seconds fly away she saw a city park, seemingly devoid of life at the current hour. It was also further away from the music than they were at right that second.

"Fancy being up a tree for the night?" Max asked him, nudging towards the park with her head. He nodded his approval, and the two teens made their decent in the cover of dusk.

Fang landed almost perfectly in the top of the tallest tree, using his techniques so effectively he barely put a feather wrong. Max almost fell out of the top of the tallest tree, having overestimated her landing point. She gripped the trunk for support, finally climbing down a few layers to lay on a thicker branch. Fang was already there, settled among the leaves like he'd lived there all his life.

After a little more fidgeting, Max got comfortable and then there was silence. She couldn't even hear Fang breathing. It was kind of easy to feel alone all the way up here. It was serene and yet…lonely. Max sighed softly, closing her eyes.

"Night," confirmation Fang was still there pierced the silence. Though she didn't say it, she was thankful.

"Night, Fang." She responded, letting her wings fall a little way from her back as she relaxed. "Sweet dreams…"


	6. Interrupted Breakfast

**Ok, attempt 2 at making this AN (ya know, i figured out some time during yesterday that it probably means Author Note. Wow, I can be such a ditz sometimes lol) as the first time i accidentally clicked a random toolbar thingamy whatsit and it navigated away from here .-. so yeah, I'm stupid sometimes. Bite me.**

**dallascowboysncountrymusicfan**** - Its no problem. Really. I'm glad, even with your problems with your compy you're _still_ attempting to comment daily. Have I every told you how much I love you? :D **

**happyasusual4**** - Miiild confusion here lol. Yes, I plan to get them to fall in love. Simply because I am an _incredible_ Fax fan. But it will also be _incredibly_ soft, hence the rating lol. Also, the Ari bit has yet to happen. Its set during The Angel Experiment. And i re read that part in and escaping the school like, a thousand (ok, four) times to make sure i hadnt missed a kiss. But there is one nearer the end, with an Ari kicking the crap out of Fang moment, maybe that's the bit you were referring to?**

***looks up* wow...long AN...Please dun let me turn into Nudge .-. Back to the story. Many thanks for my faithful reviewers, both mentioned above. Love yoo :D**

**Oh, also, there's no xxxxxx breaks in this one. No breathers. I take no responsibility for fried eyeballs or burning brains. k? Coolio.**

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**Part 6**

The early morning was much quieter than the night before, and Max was very thankful. Her headache was gone again, without s single trace. Fang had already checked this fact _countless_ times before he would leave the park. After she convinced him for the _twelfth_ time the headache was gone, Fang was interrupted by his stomach growling.

Gotta love excuses for ending an annoying conversation.

Max bit her lip as her shoulders jiggled up and down, her attempt at covering her laugh failing miserably as he tried to smother his stomach's complaining.

"Hungry much?" she asked between fits of suppressed giggles. He didn't look embarrassed as such, but he wouldn't meet her eye.

"Just a little, yeah…" he mumbled, his gangly arms still wrapped around his stomach. He didn't need to look up to know she found it hilarious, and didn't want to look up. He could feel a slight burning in his cheeks. Max really didn't need to see that, and currently his overlong hair was covering it particularly well.

"That sounded more than a li-" Max was cut off by her own growling stomach, followed by the feeling it was trying to suggest itself. Now Fang _did_ look up, his blush fading as fast as Max's appeared as she wrapped her arms around her own stomach.

"Guess I'm not the only one needing breakfast," he smirked. Max let a small, embarrassed smile creep across her face. He nudged towards the park exit with his head.

"Come on, lets see what we can find."

Despite it being silly-o'clock in the morning, the city was already coming to life. Joggers seemed to be teaming into the streets in an assortment of colours and sports outfits. Most of them looked like they'd never jogged before, going incredibly slow as their faces steadily got redder. People with suitcases were buying doughnuts and bagels from street vendors, people were walking down the street on their mobile phones, not paying attention to the rest of the world, lost in their own conversation. The occasional pedestrian was trying to kill themselves by running between the ever increasing number of cars shooting past.

It was busy, noisy, crowded, and had food on every corner.

Can anyone say 'Perfect Hiding Spot'?

Well, not entirely perfect. Two highly strung, agoraphobic bird-teens were anywhere but home in a crowded city, but it would certainly be good for hiding amongst the rabble of people should any dangers come up. As there were few pedestrians to weave through so far, the couple walked side by side, taking in the city surroundings in silent astonishment.

Even during the day, the city was all bright lights and flashy signs. The kind that, if looked at too long could burn their image on your eyes for a few minutes. Possibly into your skull if you looked at them for a whole day. It was dizzying for a first timer. And worrying. The hairs on the back of Max's neck were standing to attention the whole time, her eyes doing three-sixty scans every few minutes. Fang wasn't much better, but he didn't look quite as nervous to the outside world.

Not that anyone noticed them. Busy people with busy lives just walked straight past them, music players so loud shoved in their ears you could hear what they were listening to as they walked past. Others eyes were glazed as they held a phone to their ear, chattering on about something completely random, barging into you by accident then giving you a glare afterwards, like it was your fault. On top of that, everyone there was just…so different. Darkly dressed individuals with what looked like safety pins sticking out of their noses to girls who looks like wannabe Barbies, all pink and girly and frilly.

With just questionably dirty hair, they didn't really stand out at all.

The further they got into the city, the more crowded it became. As the sheer mass forced them to walk single file, both Max and Fang became aware of the risk of loosing each other in the crowd. Being ahead, Fang held his hand back a little, hoping Max would take the hint and grab it. Max moved her hand forwards to find his at roughly the same time, hoping to heck he wouldn't mind as she did another three-sixty.

Her hand met Fang's half way, each as unaware as the other they'd been thinking the same thing.

After what seemed like forever, they found a piece of the path with less people. Though they left the main rabble, Max's senses didn't come of hyper drive. The downside of being surrounded by people from gorgeous to ugly is that any of them could be an eraser waiting to pounce. That thought alone had her on edge, and she continued her regular three-sixty scans, despite the fact Fang was conducting his own.

The crowd had died down enough to allow them to walk side by side once again, and Max seized the opportunity to do so, taking a few quick, smaller steps to catch up with Fang before falling into step with him. He gave her a quick glance, to which she responded with a smile and a nod. Content she was alright for now, Fang went back to looking about him, casually doing scans of the area every so often. Although she was now next to him, he didn't take his hand away from hers, not really thinking about it after the initial decision to do…well, nothing.

The thought didn't even cross Max's mind.

Around the next corner was another vendor. This one was another bagel and doughnut man. Maybe it was a morning thing, doughnuts and bagels. In front of him was a red faced, angry looking businessman, alternating between shouting into a mobile phone and shouting at the poor man making his huge order of bagels and boxing up doughnuts. Fang leant a little towards Max as they walked closer, whispering softly into her ear.

"I'll distract him, you grab the bag." he mumbled. Max whispered an ok. Admittedly they knew about the having to buy things drill, as shown by previous excursions, but they needed to eat too. And this guy was asking for his food to be stolen, shouting at the poor man behind the counter like that.

It struck Max she was still holding Fang's hand when he pulled it away from her own, walking a little faster to get a little ahead of her. Angry Phone man had just been handed his bag full of food and had placed it on the floor, fishing around in his pocket and mumbling about bad service and stock prices. In his very subtle Fang-like way, he literally walked half into the man, jostling him sideways and knocking some of his money from his hand.

His face went from flustered red to angry red as he spun all the way round, glaring at Fang's back as he now walked away deliberately slowly.

"What the hell?!" Was all he shouted, his fists screwing up around the remaining notes in his hand. Fang stopped and turned on the spot, giving the man his usual cool, no emotion look. He blinked a few times, looking from the man to the few notes on the floor.

"Ya know…if I found money on the floor, I wouldn't shout about it." he answered evenly, raising his eyebrow in pretend confusion. Max could see the humour written in Fang's eyes as she swiftly stepped forwards and took the now unguarded bag, quickly stepping away and back down a close side road with their prize. The man looked like he was going to explode.

"I didn't _find_ money, _you _knocked it out of _my _hand." he seethed through slightly gritted teeth.

_Man this guy needs anger management,_ Fang thought, keeping his face still straight and confused as he tilted his head a little to the side.

"Huh?"

The mans seemed to be shaking, probably with anger. His fists were so tight he was sure those notes were going to look very crumpled by the time they made it to the vendor. Fang knew he could easily kick his behind to next Tuesday, not that he planned to.

"Whatever," Fang said, holding one hand up as if to stop him speaking. "I don't have time for this." With that he walked back past the man and the vendor, sliding into the crowd and disappearing from the man's sight.

"Stupid teenagers making me late," he grumbled, turning back to the vendor to throw his money at him. The poor vendor was as white as a sheet, obviously not used to having this guy as a regular customer. Or at least not used to seeing him provoked. He fumbled with the money, quickly putting it away. Angry man picked up his suitcase and walked briskly away, flipping open his phone once more.

He didn't notice he'd lost his purchase until half way to the office.

Fang slipped out of the busy rabble and into the smaller side road. It was lined with houses, all tiny I width and stacked high up on each other. Not that Fang noticed how small they were. When you grew up in a dog crate, even a _cupboard_ could be considered a good living area. On the steps up to the first house, he spotted Max, seemingly deep in thought as she stared at a house across the road. He quietly approached her, sinking down on the step next to her and opening the bag. She turned as she heard the bag rustle, then relaxed, noticing it was Fang and not angry man coming back for his food.

"Jeez, you almost gave me a heart attack…" she mumbled as Fang pawed through the contents of the bag, opening the top box of two and pulling out a bagel. He lifted one edge, then held it out to her.

"Cheese and tomato?" he offered, ignoring her previous statement. "They don't seem to have a chocolate one."

Max gave him a playful shove on the shoulder and took it, sinking her teeth into the bagel and biting a large lump off. It tasted _awesome_, slightly sharp cheese against very slightly sweet tomato. She closed her eyes and chewed it, trying to eat it slowly. Hunger got the better of her as she wolfed it down. Anyone watching would think she wasn't even chewing, just swallowing lumps whole.

Fang wasn't being much more self controlled. His stomach had felt like it was trying to eat itself for quite a while now. Between then, they very quickly finished off the six bagels and six doughnuts in the bag, leaning back against the step as they sucked the sugar off their fingers.

"I hope he wasn't going to eat all those himself," Max stated after completely cleaning her fingers of sugar. "I mean, that was a lot of food…"

"For him, yes." Fang relied before sucking on his little finger, getting the last of the sugar off before continuing. "For us, it was a pretty good breakfast."

Max nodded, doing a quick survey of her surroundings. She liked this road, quiet. A few people had walked past them since they'd started eating, though they hadn't paid them any attention at all despite how fast they'd devoured a whole box of doughnuts and bagels. It was brilliant, like they fitted in without even trying. Then her eyes fell on the entrance to the busy street. There, on a very walkie-talkie looking phone, was a man who looked so perfect he could be a supermodel.

And he was watching them.

Looking away like she hadn't noticed, she discretely tapped the back of Fang's hand that rested on his leg. Looking back forwards towards the houses in front of her, she felt him respond by tapping her hand back.

"Three o'clock." She mumbled, before looking away again. Fang looked sideways at the entrance to their little side road, noting the supermodel on his phone, saw him watch them carefully for a few seconds before looking away, acting like he wasn't.

"So much for a quiet morning," he breathed, shifting to shut the now empty boxes and shove them back in the bag. "I was having such a nice time too."

"On three," Max whispered back, watching the perfect man put down his phone through the corner of her eye. Fang prepared to run, knowing exactly what she meant by that. He was eyeing the man himself, tensing a little more as he started towards them.

"One."

Both of them sprang from their steps and ran towards the other end of their secluded street. The eraser was quick to pick up his pace, jogging in an easy step. Max looked back before focusing her attention forwards once more, pushing herself to run faster.

"He's gaining on us!" Max shouted, the air rushing past her ears making her unsure if Fang would hear her regular voice. He looked around for a split second before turning back forwards, examining the way ahead, trying to think of a plan.

"And multiplying!" She could hear the hint of distress in his voice. She turned her head briefly to have a look, noticing three were now on their tail. Swallowing hard, she looked back round. Fang was very slightly ahead of her. He could run a little faster, always had been. She wondered if he'd leave her behind if the erasers got her first. Then she felt him grasp her hand, pull her forwards a little so she almost fell over her own feet.

Fang had no intention of letting her go.

Swiftly, he took a right, dashing across the road in front of on of the few cars. The erasers followed, almost right behind them now. The last unfortunate eraser misjudged the distance, and was greeted by a bumper for it. He flew off the road and smacked into the windscreen of the car, flopping seemingly lifelessly onto the bonnet. The astonished driver dropped his mobile phone.

Now they were weaving between people again, only this time at a much faster pace. Max tightened her hand around Fang's, daring to look back. More erasers had joined the chase, as four incredibly perfect and tanned supermodels jogged after then, slowly closing the gap between bird kid and eraser. A woman had also joined the chase, again looking perfect in every single way. Max cursed under her breath.

"Five," she shouted to Fang, who was pushing his way through the almost completely oblivious crowd of people ahead of him. His eyes darted backwards and forwards, the adrenaline pumping through his system keeping him running. His eyes searched for a 'get-away-from-erasers-free' card, anywhere with lots of people they could hide away.

On the right, he spotted a huge mass of small children crowding through some gates. Looking up, he read the sign: 'City Zoo'

Max had seen it too, letting go of Fang's hand to split up as they turned right. "Blend!"

They ducked down, trying to look as school-kiddy as possible as they weaved between children, putting more and more distance between them and the erasers who'd stopped at the edge of the child crowd and were searching heads.

Max held her breath as she was penguin-like squashed up to the gates of the zoo, hoping that the guard on the door wouldn't look down.

"Pass, pass, pass…" he just waved everyone through without looking, seemingly more interested in the book in his hand. Having been waved through the gate, she quickly detached herself from the rest of the group and sat on a wall to the side. Not long after, a very jostled looking Fang joined her as he stretched his legs out once more.

"I haven't seen any erasers," she commented, her senses still on red alert as she searched the surroundings.

"They got turned away at the gate." Fang replied, smiling slightly as Max breathed a huge sigh of relief. He flopped next to her, letting himself breathe after being squashed so tightly in with the kids. His leg twitched as he adrenaline rush started to calm down. If she didn't have them clasped tightly in her lap, Max's hands would have been shaking.

As her brain began to settle once more, she felt her head begin thumping again. Not as badly as it had being doing, but it was still a little painful. She tried not to show it, instead looking about them. They'd never been to a zoo before, half of these animals they'd never even seen in on TV, let alone in real life. Everywhere you looked, strange and wonderful creatures hung about lazily, eating or sleeping in the shade as little children umm'd and aah'd at them, their supervisors reading out plaques in front of the enclosures.

Max shivered. The cages brought back memories of the School. Ones she would have rather kept locked away. She closed her eyes in an attempt to blot them out, but they just got more vivid. Her headache started getting worse as she squeezed her eyes shut more, desperately trying to dispel the images.

Then Fang took her hand, and the images melted. She opened her eyes, the headache making them feel they might pop out of their sockets as she focused on his face. He was leaning in a little, his face just a few inches from her own as his eyes stared into hers. They were soft, a small hint of worry playing in them. His other hand came up and wiped the tiny beads of sweat that has been forming on her forehead away with his jumper sleeve, then he gave her hand a small squeeze.

"We can leave," he stated simply. Max wasn't sure if he was entirely aware how close he was leaning. It was comforting and yet…uncomfortable, at the same time. The close proximity made her edgy, the eye contact keeping her from pulling away. After a few more never-ending seconds, she managed a nod in reply.

A few minutes of child-weaving later, they found a small, cordoned off pathway leading to the back of an animal exhibit. A quick check to make sure no one was watching and they quickly spread their wings, taking off into the sky. The unspoken yet slightly desperate need for both of them to leave that place meant their three-sixty sweep wasn't quite as good as usual.

One child's school trip report would definitely stand out from the rest.


	7. Hidden City and Mushiness

**This part...i should have finished waaaay before now, but i literally just finished it ^^; What can i say, I'm lazy. Sorry its so late dudes and dudettes x.x  
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**happyasusual4: thanks :D im trying to stick as close to the book as possible, but i'm also adding my own little...random bits, to keep it kinda different...im glad it seems to be working :)**

**dallascowboysncountrymusicfan: meh, my boyfriend might not be completely ecstatic either XD but he'd get over it...i think ;D thanks a bunch :) I added that bit after re reading it, gave them a reason to go into the city i think..and no worries. I hardly _ever_ make sense :)**

**Also, this one has breaks but its like, longer than usual :P**

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**Part 7**

Max tried to keep her headaches to herself for the rest of the day. She knew Fang cared and all, but she didn't want him to think she needed to be looked after 24/7. She was Maximum Ride after all. Tough as nails. Hard as steel.

Melted only by cookies.

After escaping the confining walls of the zoo, the pair kept to the skies to enjoy an afternoon fly. It was a nice change from the claustrophobic city, and Max welcomed it with open arms as her headache faded to nothing. They landed in a quiet side road on the outskirts of the city and wandered back towards the busy centre, enjoying the general lack of people around them. As the number of people increased, Max began to feel herself tense up once more as the same old fears played on her mind. The headache started making a comeback.

But she didn't want to leave just yet. She felt like she was missing something, like a little nagging all-knowing voice was keeping her here. But people didn't have voices in their heads. Least she didn't think they did, and Fang had never mentioned one.

She put it down to intuition.

Her 'intuition' had seemed to be developing a lot lately, sitting at the back of her mind and whispering things. Usually it was more prevalent after a head explosion. Max saw it as a genius moment rather than a side effect, though her opinion on it was wavering. It had told them to come here after all, and then there were erasers. Trying to ignore the idea she was being used a a human-avian living trap, she took what it told with a hint of salt.

As much as you could when it threw these ideas to the front of your mind every so often.

The rest of the day dragged slowly as the two teens wandered the city. Being moneyless meant they couldn't even do what normal people considered touristy things to do, though Fang did manage to find a $20 bill just sticking out of the gutter. He grabbed it with seconds to spare, saving it from the slimy depths beneath the city.

"What could we do with a twenty?" Max asked as Fang shoved it into his pocket. He shrugged before doing another quick three-sixty. He didn't trust anything not to be a trap these days.

"Save it for food or something," he said, taking a look at her as they walked down the street. She wasn't doing a very good job of hiding her headache. Fang may be a man of few words, but he noticed what others didn't want to speak. Especially with Max. He knew her too well to misjudge a single look.

"Logic tells you to do that huh?" Max queried, taking a glance at him too. He simply nodded before turning his attention back to the city ahead. She gave a small smile before doing the same. A few moments later, she found Fang's hand holding hers. Blinking, she looked from their hands to him. His attention was still forwards as he did a quick three sixty.

"Fang..?" she asked, waiting for him to look at her. He didn't.

"Mm..?" His answer came barely a millisecond after her query. He'd been expecting her to question it, but continued to look forwards like it wasn't an issue. Max frowned.

"You know, its not very busy at the moment…" she started, still not taking her eyes off him. His hair shielded her from looking into his own eyes, which she mentally hated. Briefly she thought about making him use some of the money to get a haircut., or attacking him with the scissors. It was obscuring the window to Fang's emotions, making her have to guess.

He didn't answer or even look at her, like he was ignoring her. Max tried to glare a hole in his hair, to no avail, and instead turning her attention back in front of her fully intending to pull her hand away. But what he said next caught her off guard.

"Do I need an excuse to hold your hand..?" he half-whispered his response, almost like it was a struggle to get the words out. Max found herself dumbfounded.

Really. Why did he want to hold her hand?

She looked back up to be met with his own intense eyes. She couldn't place the emotion floating within them. She wasn't familiar with it, or at least wasn't used to seeing it from Fang. It was the same one that had been hiding beneath his concern at the Zoo, that kept her from looking away. They had the exact same effect again, right down to the speechlessness.

Fang wasn't sure what he wanted her to say. He _liked_ holding her hand. He was well aware it was something normal people did, and had never seen the point in it until he held Max's. After that, it made sense to him. It flustered him a little she didn't seem to see it too, but he kept it silent, hiding it behind his emotionally challenged face as he looked at her.

Eventually, after a prolonged spell of muteness, Max finally found her voice.

"I guess you don't need one..?" she replied just as softly as he had first spoken, not taking her gaze away from his. She tried to keep her face straight, but Fang swore he could see her eyes sparkle as she hid her smile. He gave her his soft, Max-Melting smile and squeezed her hand very slightly.

"That's good," he replied as he turned his attention back to the road. Max had expected him to say something else, but he hadn't. Instead, she tightened her hand around his, and turned her attention back to the street before them as well. They walked in silence for a long time, neither teen wanting to break it, both wearing a contented smile.

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"So, basically, we're a loooong way from where we slept last night?" Queried Fang as he read the subway map over Max's shoulder. They'd literally spent the whole day walking from place to place, not entirely sure where they were planning to go and never finding somewhere _to _go.

The only thing they did achieve was feeding Max's cookie addiction, which she seemed to have developed since helping Ella before the School dragged them back kicking and screaming. That was $5 they were never going to see again. But Fang had to admit it was an awesomely good-tasting choice of waste of money. After all the drama they'd had recently, it was good to see a genuine smile from Max. He could see through that fake one any day.

Though her happy murmurings were kind of embarrassing.

"Put very simply, yes." Max replied, a small bag containing two cookies hanging off her wrist so she could read the map. Fang had told her to save them for later, so she could eat them before she fell asleep. It was a good idea, but she hadn't been _completely_ on board with it at first. Like, there used to be four cookies in that bag…

"We could fly it," Fang lowered his voice. It was getting late, but there were still many a person flitting about the streets. This place never seemed to die, another drawback of cities. No privacy.

"How far would we have to walk to be able to take off?" Max asked, tilting her neck sideways to look at his face. Fang's eyebrows furrowed as he thought for a second.

"Good point." He conceded quickly, reaching over to steal the map from her and turning away. He ignored Max's protest behind him, letting a smirk touch his face while she couldn't see as he traced a line from their station to the one apparently by the park as the crow would fly. "So what's the subway like?"

"Its underground, its not going to be rainbows and blue skies," Max answered, taking a few steps towards him and slipping her head under his arm. If he had not been Fang, he would have jumped back a surprise. Instead he seemed to just...step backwards, with furrowed brows. He hadn't expected the intrusion, giving Max the tiny time window she needed to snatch the map from his grasp and duck out again.

Fang blinked and span to see Max folding the map and slipping it in her pocket. "So, subway it is." She smiled, reaching out and taking his wrist to drag him down the stairs. Her grip was loose and gentle, un-Max-like. He slipped his wrist from her grasp with relative ease and took her hand instead, taking the steps faster to catch up with her.

He liked this hand holding thing, glad Max seemed to be growing to like it too.

It was gloomy down in the subway. Yes, there were lights up, but the perpetual underground darkness seemed to swallow a lot of it. That and Max hated being confined. To her it was like a big underground dog crate. At least it was big, but that _really_ wasn't much help. Fang wasn't ecstatic either, but it would be the quickest way back to the park, so he didn't argue. He just followed Max down into the depths of the station until they hit a ticket barrier.

"Do we get a discount for being mutants?" Fang asked, looking around for a ticket machine. Max elbowed him in the ribs before taking a look herself. All of the ticket offices were abandoned, and she couldn't see anything resembling a machine that might spit some out if she punched it hard enough.

"Of course we do," Max finally answered, placing each hand on two different machines. There was a turnstile between them, which Max gave a good kick to. It didn't move an inch.

"I bet that hurt." Fang mumbled softly, more to himself than to Max. She dropped her feet back to the floor, keeping her foot from properly touching the ground for a few seconds.

"Nah," she replied, looking back at him with a smile. "Barely felt it." Turning away, she let out a silent scream. _Damn_ it hurt. She took a different tack instead, using the two machines as leverage to swing over the turnstile in her way, landing a little ungracefully on the other side as her ankle complained. Turning triumphantly, she gave Fang a smile.

"We go for free!" She exclaimed happily, her smile almost reaching from ear to ear.

"I would have done that in the first place," Fang smirked as he swung himself over the barrier, landing a little better considering he hadn't just buggered his ankle. Max shrugged defiantly before turning to continue further into the station. Fang rolled his eyes and followed, but he couldn't keep the smirk off his face as she tried to hide her slight limp.

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They stood on the platform for about five minutes before Max started getting impatient. Pacing a six foot length of floor in front of Fang, she kept looking up and silently cursing at the electronic sign _supposed_ to be telling them when the next train was coming. Fang was sat in a plastic chair attached to the wall, playing with a hole in his jeans from boredom. Finally, she stopped pacing, centring her annoyance on Fang, the only outlet other than punching something.

"Don't do that Fang, we cant afford to buy new jeans," her old motherly ways were seeping back through, a hint of anger I her voice. Fang stopped and looked up, his face as straight as ever.

"Maybe the station is closed," he stated, trying to change the subject. He didn't need Max's annoyance focused on him. It could result in a shouting match, something he didn't currently have the energy for. That and he didn't want new jeans. He liked his jeans.

"There were no ticket people, there's no other passengers, and that sign is probably out because the place is closed or something." He continued evenly. Sometimes, Max really hated his logic. It had made him an awesome second in command in the good old days, a contrast to her snap decision attitude. Now, it was annoying her.

"Fine. You're right. I'm stupid." Fang raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more as she turned away and crossed her arms. She was letting off steam, he guessed, and was happy to let her do so without aiming it at him. Instead, she needed to be glaring a hole in the wall opposite whilst she thought. Fang shifted slightly, crossing his legs the opposite way, waiting for the flash of leadership Max had after her anger seeped away.

"Ok," she finally said, spinning back to look at him. He leant forwards a little, his chin rested in his hands as he listened. "These tunnels have to be faster than walking through streets and things, so I say we use one as a short cut back to the park. Objections?"

Fang simply shook his head and stood up, passing her walk to the edge of the platform. There he stood for a few seconds, looking down. It was much darker down there, and in the tunnels that followed. All the lights to guide subway trains had been turned off along with the flashy sign. He looked back at Max.

"Avoid the third rail," he stated, motioning to a warning sign before jumping down onto the tracks. Max took in the details of the sign and shivered. Touching the third rail would result in someone serving you as extra crispy with a side order of fries. Carefully, Max jumped from the edge of the platform to land just behind Fang, counting rails to make sure she knew which on to avoid.

"All set?" he asked her over her shoulder, and Max nodded. When he didn't start moving she said a small ok instead, not thinking twice about reaching for his hand in the near darkness. Fang was happy to oblige, making sure he had a firm grip on her hand before staring off into the tunnel. They were walking in a straight line for what seemed like _days. _Adrenaline was leaking into Max's system, causing her to tighten her hand around Fang's without really meaning to. He didn't say a word, but kept steadily pacing in a straight line, his ears on high alert.

Suddenly, he stopped. Max walked straight into the back of him, gaining a soft _Oof! _as they collided and them stepped apart. Max wanted to ask why he stopped, but at the same time he must have had a good reason to. He was Fang after all, not all jittery and paranoid like her. At least, that was her impression.

"Hello?" a deep, worn sounding voice broke the silence of the tunnels, echoing off the walls. It was still a way away, Fang predicted. Maybe it was a worker, or an eraser ambush in disguise. Uneasily he tensed his muscles, staying as quiet as he could. Max felt him tense and followed suit, working to keep her breathing quiet and steady.

"Who's there?" the same voice sounded again. It didn't sound like the soft, enticing voice of an eraser. It sounded...broken. Like it had been through the wars and survived. Max could _so _relate right now, but kept quiet. Fang was already in the lead, and she could no longer see the third rail. Being a human barbeque was not high in her list of priorities.

Fang was ignoring the voice all together by now, trying to pick out any background noises that might give away who the owner was. His hearing was ultra sensitive, as Max's was, and he was fine tuning it into the soft noises further up the tunnel. He could hear coughing. The sound of a fire crackling away, probably confined by something by the tinny sound it was making. He couldn't hear any manic giggling.

Erasers were _really _bad at hiding that. Seriously.

Giving Max's hand a gentle tug, he lead her ever so slowly forwards towards the sounds. She complied, trusting he wouldn't be idiotic enough to lead her to her death. As they approached, the outline of a man began to appear, flickering in some unseen fire light coming from his right. Fang approached cautiously, keeping Max well and truly hidden behind his back. She flexed her wings, just in case she needed them. He damaged wing was already healing nicely, thanks to her awesome genetics. That was something the whitecoats had done right at least, as they healed inhumanly fast.

As Fang approached, the features of the man became more apparent. As did the background noise. It wasn't loud, but it was more discernable now they were up close. Still unable to see around the bend, Fang kept as much distance as possible whilst still being able to see his face. He looked old, but Fang got the impression he looked older than his years. Wrapped in dirty, torn clothes and blanket, he certainly didn't look much like a threat. The man seemed to sigh in relief.

"Just kids," he called around the corner, taking a few steps back around there himself. Fang looked back at Max, who shrugged and gave him a silent sign to edge a little further forwards, her outline barely lit by the flickering orange light from around the corner. As much as this was unknown territory, she was curious why 'just kids' was a good thing. Pulling her very slowly behind him, Fang peeked around the corner.

He scanned the walls of the corridor around the corner, silently taking in what he was seeing. It looked like a small, dirty city. Max peeked around his side, noting the large black bin with holes in so many people were gathered around. They were bathed in a flickering orange glow, some of them holding small pieces of food on sticks out over the bare flames spouting from the top of the bin. Looking up, she saw the ceiling was at least three stories above their heads, cement shelves dotted with people sticking out.

"Wow," Max mumbled, still scanning the ceiling. "Its…a city under a city."

"For misfits," Fang added as he took a few steps forwards into the corridor. Max followed, not releasing her hand from his as the two stared in silent amazement for a few more minutes. The variety of people down there was huge. Many were old, middle aged or even older, ignoring the newcomers as they went about their now very lowly lives. She noted a group of kids off to the side, probably about the same age as her, all huddled together under a blanket.

They definitely fit in here.

Fang was still checking out the people rather than the surroundings, and noted a strange looking man watching them carefully. Quickly, he withdrew his hand from Max's and wrapped it around her waist instead, pulling her close and a little in front of him. She blinked, twisting her head round to look at him over her shoulder.

"There's some space up there, on the shelf." Fang whispered like a secret, tilting his head very slightly to the right as he watched the man carefully from the corner of his eye. The man frowned a little causing Fang to tighten his arm around Max a little further, pulling her closer to him. Taking the hint, the man wandered slowly away towards another woman of the group.

Fang relaxed his grip a little, looking at the back of Max's head as she tried to spot the shelf space he'd mentioned. It seemed to be safe down here from erasers, but it certainly wasn't from other threats of the city underworld. Just because she didn't want to be protected didn't mean he would stop. He'd promised to keep her safe, and that's what he was going to do. Quickly, he scanned the shelf for enough space for them both, finding one just as Max turned her head back to him.

"I don't see it," she stated, seemingly perfectly comfortable pulled so close to Fang. Her arms were free, she could have pulled his arm away. But she didn't. Inwardly, Fang smiled as that realisation crossed his mind.

"Got taken," he replied in his usual, even tone, now tilting his head towards the location he just found. "That's free. I'll give you a boost."

Tightening his arm once again round Max's waist, he raised his arm just enough to lift her feet off the floor. She wriggled a little in his arm as he walked her up to the self, then swiftly removed his arm as he placed his other forearm under her thighs to give her a push up. Grabbing the ledge, Max scrambled onto it with reasonable ease and crawled into the corner as Fang pulled himself up. Leaning against the wall behind him, fang let his gangly legs hang over the edge of the ledge as he closed his eyes.

"How's your head?" he asked softly, turning his head a little to look at her. She was curled against the wall, her eyes already closed as she used her hand as a pillow.

"Fine," he lied, opening her eyes to look at him. "Its kind of faded…" She wasn't convincing, and Max knew it, but she didn't want to go into it right now. Fang just tilted his head back the way it had been, closing his eyes once more.

"Night Max." he mumbled, resting his hands in his lap.

"Night," Max replied quietly, not taking her eys off him. After about ten minutes, his muscles slowly un-tensed and his jaw relaxed as he drifted off to sleep. When she was sure he was out for the count, she smiled slightly and turned to curl up against the wall that little bit closer to him.

The smile still on her face, she slowly fell asleep listening to Fang's soft and steady breathing.


	8. Enter the Voice, Stage Left

**Naxt part...some of which was written during an insomnia attack at 3am, and though I've re read and altered it, some of it doesnt seem to... flow .-. so please bare with me here, im sorry for the crappy bits. Its also pretty close to the book, with a few different actions and dialogue, and ending lol. Like usual, but less me like i guess.**

**dallascowboysncountrymusicfan: I can remember how to spell your name without copy/paste now :D But yeah, it will lead to FAX. I can only leave it there _because_ i...dont actually know yet ^^; unprofessional as it is, it was originally a one shot. This has been written as i re read the book :P so i havent decided. Yust yet anyway...also, glad you like it ^^ trying to keep it in as character as possible while being...squishy :3  
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Part 8**

Despite the lack of sunlight to notify him of the hour, Fang woke early the following morning as per usual. He stifled a yawn and blinked a few times, taking his average of three seconds to be fully awake and alert. He turned to check on Max, giving a small smile as she lay a little curled up against the wall facing him, a small smile on her face. For once, she was having a good dream.

Stretching his arms and legs Fang had a look around. Very few of the others seemed to be awake at this hour. Looking towards the train tunnel he noticed the look out seemed to have changed, a young looking woman there instead. She was bedragged and thin, holding a small, cloth-wrapped bundle he would almost dare to assume to be a baby due to the way she was rocking it. In the corner, he noted a scrawny looking kid wearing army fatigues hunched over a computer on his lap, the light from the screen much brighter than that of the dwindling bin fires. Everyone else was either gone or still alseep. He they would tell it was morning, he had no idea.

The number of people on their shelf seemed to have thinned out overnight, and continued to do so as the early morning dragged on. Fang remained silent and motionless, waiting for Max to wake up so they could get the hell out of there. He didnt like it all. He kept catching the eyes of people staring at him or Max, giving them a warning glare until they looked away. He trusted no one from this place. Wearily, Fang kept scanning the faces of those who woke and shifted around.

The weird man from yesterday was nowhere in sight, thankfully.

It was a couple of hours before Max finally woke, and it was anything but a sweet awakening. She went from peaceful dream to full-blown brain explosion in a split second, having to bite her lip to stop herself crying out. Instantly she curled tight in a ball, wrapping an arm around her head and the other held her legs tightly to her chest as the pain wracked her head.

_Please God, let me die now,_ Max thought as her brain went onto overdrive. Codes flickered behind her eyelids as she was tormented by images of the past to things she'd never seen before. A voice mumbled over it like a drowsy commentator, adding the final assault to her senses as sickness rose in her throat. Dimly, though the pain, she could feel a hand softly rubbing between her wings. Hushed soothing sounds close to her ear as Fang tried to calm her headache.

Fang. The only reason not to die right now.

Slowly the pain faded to a dull ache, the pictures still flashing behind her eyelids as her shudders reduced to the occasional whimper. She dare not open her eyes, squeezing them shut against _everything_, attempting to blot the world and those images out of her mind. Behind her eyelids, codes and memories tormented her sanity. Floor plans she'd never known flitted through the waves of pain.

"Who's screwing with my Mac?!" The harsh, slightly infantile voice was anything but soothing to her already throbbing head. Max let out a soft, frustrated whine and curled up tighter, pressing her face into her legs.

_Stop crying damnit,_ she scolded herself, wiping her eyes on her trouser leg as she tried to blot out the disturbing images. _In front of Fang _and_ complete strangers. This is so embarrassing._

"What the hell are you playing at, huh? You've crashed my whole system you idiots!" the voice came again, this time closer. She felt Fang's hand stay pressed on the same spot between her wings as his arm tensed up. If this kid kept it up, he'd have a fist-shaped dent in his face.

"What are you on about?" Fang asked, his level voice exhibiting a steely undertone. Max imagined his other hand already balled into a fist. he wasnt one to take chances, more likely to get ready for the worst just in case he needed it. Apparently the steeliness didn't seep through the dense lad's head, as he kept on going.

"My whole system packed up, and I'm tracing the interference back to you!" he retorted even louder then before, making Max cringe as her head thumped away. "So I'm telling you to quit it _now_, or you'll regret it!"

Another wave of pain crashed over Max and she whimpered softly, taking a deep shaky breath, trying not to wish she had a higher ledge to throw herself off of.

"What's wrong with her? She spaced?" he was getting on Max's last already frayed nerve. Apparently Fang was getting bored of it too.

"Not your concern," he replied, the steel in his voice no longer categorise-able as 'subtle'. "Now get lost, before more than just your Mac is duffed up." The lad gave a snort at his threat, incredibly unaware of how serious Fang was being.

"I'm not leaving 'til you stop messing with the merchandise," he replied simply, eyeing Max carefully. "Shouldn't you get her to a hospital?"

By then, Max had had it with just laying there like a useless, shivering jelly. Using her last ounce of strength coupled with her ever so decreasing willpower, she pulled herself into an upright position, leaning on her arm to keep herself there. Fang noticed her arm shaking slightly out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say a word. He kept his face centered on the persistant kid in front of him.

She wouldn't forgive him if he made her feel weak now.

"What the hell do you want?" Max asked, with as much defiance as her current state would allow. She felt like crap. Her head was thumping, her arm felt like it might give way any second, the images were refusing to go away as she struggled to focus on the lad in front of her. Hazily, she noted he looked about her age, his clothes dirty and worn. The computer he was going on about seemed to be tied around his neck by a strap. Not exactly fashionable, but practical on the go.

"I want _you_ to stop doing _this_!" He stated, flipping his computer screen round to face them. Fang furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Across the screen were flashing images of so many random things. Streams of codes he couldn't understand, short flashes of images and data pages, silent longer clips of people talking. It didn't really make sense to him. In the slightest. Watching closely, he did recognise a few of the pictures that flickered over the screen. One scientist came up several times in particular.

Jeb.

He stole a look at Max, and was greeted with her jaw almost touching the floor. She seemed flabbergasted by what was passing over the screen, failing as well as one could at hiding their reaction. He'd expected her to be mimicing his confusion, but she remained shocked instead. He raised an eyebrow in question, but she waved a hand flimsily as her attention went back to the kid.

"Who _are_ you?" she asked, her voice a mixture of desperation shrouded in shaky nervousness. Fang kept his gaze on Max, letting her stare the kid down herself.

"I'm going to kick you butt if you don't strop mucking up my system," the kid growled angrily, his glance switching between Max and Fang.

Fang glanced back at the computer screen as it went black. The images had stopped flooding it, as had the codes and silent film clips. Max felt her eyes drawn to it to, the sudden lack of visual stimulation mirroring the final lack of images floaiting through her own head. What happened next, however, had both either jaws in the dirt.

In large, red letters, two words scrolled slowly down the length of the computer screen.

_**Hello, Max.**_

Fang immediately focused his attention back on Max, who was staring at the screen in disbelief. As the text reached the middle of the screen, she blinked and closed her eyes, shaking her head a little. Opening her eyes again, she caught Fang's own confused eyes. As if drawn by magnets, they both looked back at the screen at the same time.

_**Welcome to New York.**_

No more text scrolled down the screen, though Fang continued to watch it closely for another few minutes. Max, however, was beginning to freak out. Her headache was slowly easing, the sickness beginning to receded. Her relief was short lived. New waves of sickness caused by worry and confusion flooded her stomach as the messages that had been on the computer continued it's conversation _in her head_.

_**I knew you'd find your way here, Max. I have such big plans for you.**_

Very slowly, Max leaned in towards Fang. "Please tell me you can hear that," she whispered, her eyes flicking from the now blank computer screen to the irritated looking boy holding it. Fang kept his eyes on the screen.

"Hear what?" he mumbled in response, his face hiding the concern his eyes were swimming with.

"The voice," she whispered back a little more urgently, this time looking at him. He met her gaze, his eyebrows furrowed once more as he studied her. She looked scared, and very freaked out. Possibly tired, even after all the sleep she got. He didn't have a time to reply.

"Who the hell is Max? Is that the guy screwing with my system? Is that you?" The angry kid focused his attention on Fang, obviously making an assumption 'Max' would be attached to a guy. Fang frowned at him, looking like he was refraining from some harsh, steely and possibly particulary unpleasant words. Just moment later, Max cried out in pain as a new wave crashed down on her skull.

Fang pulled her head into his shoulder as she screwed her eyes shut, trying to soothe her, stroking the back of her head. His attention was drawn once again to the computer screen as images flashed across it. Max pried her eyes open to watch the screen, her head pounding, making her vision fuzzy. As the slide show commenced, she tried to keep her eyes open, scanning the images for any kind of sense. On top of the images, flashing in and out in almost seconds each time, four words played on the forefront.

_Institute for Higher Living_

Both bird teens looked at each other at the same time. They'd both seen it. They had no idea what it meant, but they'd definitely both seen it.

Then the screen went black once more.

Instantly the kid flipped his computer back round and began typing at breakneck speed, mumbling a mismatch of grumbles about tracking down its source, hackers and faulty programming. After a few long minutes he was grinding his teeth, tapping the edge of the keyboard in frustration with his thin fingers.

"Come on, spill. How're you doing it? Where's your gear?" he asked, irritation playing in his voice. Fang held his hands outwards, pointing out the obvious lack of stuff they possessed.

"We don't have any gear," he answered as if talking to a simplistic child, before letting a small smirk turn up the side of his mouth. "Spooky, aint it?"

The computer geek looked huffy and frustrated.

"You guys on the run huh? Whatcha do?" Max frowned at his question, now uneasy. He was prying into their lives, something she _really_ wasn't comfortable with. She'd learned through experience not to trust random people you ran into. This kid was obviously ugly enough to not be an eraser. If fact, f he was one, she would have given the school a medal for finally blending their bad guys into the rest of the world. She trusted her Flock, and they were gone, just her and Fang left. She'd trusted Jeb for so many years.

He lost that trust the second he took her flock away,

"What makes you think that?" Fang queried, his voice calm and collected. The boy snorted.

"Come _on._ You look filthy, you're sleeping in a subway tunnel. She's obviously a freakin' maniac and you're covered in healing cuts, bruises and scars."

Ok, so the lad wasn't thick. Just plain rude.

"And you?" Fang voiced before Max got a chance to protest about being called a maniac. Instead, she huffed silently as he answered.

"I got kicked out of my school, they didn't like how I handled myself. I wouldn't stay quiet, like they wanted me to. Parents didn't want me back." he replied. He was fiddling with his computer again, no longer focusing on the kids before him. Max felt a pang of sympathy for him. She could relate, escaping from a confining hell hole and having no place to go back to. Not that she liked him very much, but the sympathy was still there, below the seething dislike.

He should feel privileged.

"So what's with the computer?" Fang continued to query. If the rest of the flock had been here, man they would have had their moths wide open. Fang. Being talkative with a _stranger._ That was way new to Max, he hadn't been that talkative with anyone until recently. He'd only just started sentances loger than six words long with her. The lad shrugged as he typed.

"It keeps me going. Can hack into anything and everything I want. Sometimes I even do jobs for people, ya know? Need to make a living somewhe-" Mid-sentence, he clammed up, giving Fang an icy glare. "Why? Who wants to know?"

_Man, this guy flips backwards and forwards like there's no tomorrow…_ Fang thought, holding his hands up defensively. "Chill kid, we're just being friendly." But he'd already flipped his computer shut and done a runner, disappearing down a tunnel leading away from them. Fang looked after him for a few seconds, then shrugged as he leaned back against the wall, flopping his hands into his lap as the arm on Max's back now seemed redundant.

Max was silent, staring out into space in a thinking moment again. What the _hell_ had just happened anyway? Why was everything that flashed through her head being broadcasted on that guys computer? Was it a power, like Angel's mind reading and things?

Wow, projecting brain explosions onto computers. Talk about sucky end of the recombinant gene pool.

"Max?" Fang's low voice pierced her thoughts, jumbling all the fears and questions she'd been running through her still thumping brain. She turned to look at him. He was resting his head against the wall behind him, looking straight at her.

"Yeah?" she asked, anticipating the question he was going to ask.

"That stuff on the computer…"

"Was running through my head, yeah…" Max finished for him, leaning back against the wall herself and staring up at the ceiling. Fang didn't take his eyes off her, bringing his arms up behind his head to cushion the solid concrete wall.

"And the words?"

"Them too…but like they were being spoken…"

"So you're _really_ hearing a voice inside your head?" his voice was as steady as ever, but Max didn't look round. Even without hearing it, she was convinced she knew the what he was thinking. Instead she simply nodded, closing her eyes and resting her hands in her lap as she tilted her head backwards.

Both of them remained silent for a while, Fang returning his vision to the ceiling after a few seconds. What felt like hours of silence passed before Max felt Fang's hand round hers once again. She looked down at his hand around hers for a brief moment, then into Fangs eyes. He didn't look freaked, like she expected. He didn't look at her like she was mad. Instead, he was looking at her with a completely different emotion in his eyes, clouded by worry and concern. She'd seen it twice before now, it no longer took her aback. It still herld her gaze.

And she still wondered what it was.

"You're still shaking," he stated simply, gently stroking the back of her hand as his attention waved down from her face to her hands. Max smiled softly, turning her hand over to be able to grasp his back.

"I'm fine Fang, just…a lot to take in." she answered, leaning her head back once again and letting out a soft sigh. "I feel like I haven't slept a wink…"

Fang's hand let go of hers, and for a second Max felt alone. Then she felt him shuffle up closer to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Sleep, Max." he said softly, gently playing with the tips of her hair. "Its been a tiring morning." Max wanted to pull away. Almost every fibre of her being wanted to reject being protected, to wriggle out of his grasp and tell him everything was fine. But for the first time since Jeb had abandoned them, she _wanted_ to share what was going on in her head, but not because she was scared.

She wanted to be close to Fang.

Without a fight, she settled into his shoulder as he pulled her a little tighter to him. Fang was glad she was letting him help her, even if he knew the second she woke she'd probably be back to her old, defiant self again. He slowly stroked the back of her head as she drifted off against him, letting a smile play on the corner of his lips as her breathing slipped into a soft, steady rhythm. She always looked calm and relaxed when she slept, and he couldn't deny he loved seeing her sleep.

It was the one time she let everything go. When she could really be free from the stresses she was put under by the crappy hand they'd been dealt, when she didn't need to be the strong one. The leader.

Something Fang wished he could do for her every day.


	9. Google, It Doesnt Know Everything

**Well, next part. I was going to write this during my morning with nothing to do. But got: a) distracted by the bf. You know who you are. and b) hit writers block when I _did_ try to write it, but its finished now :D yaaaaaaaay. So here it is, in all its gibbery glory. Its a little shorter than the others, and theres a couple of breather points, hopefully you'll like :) Also, I think this chapter has the _least_ FAXness so far =o  
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**dallascowboysandcountrymusicfan: As long as you credit me, I would be honoured =3 Yay on the getting your computer back, send your dad a hug from me lol. And yay morbid sweetness...I think...**

**5253Racer: I'm glad you think so, thanks loads for the review =D And continue to write I shall.

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**Part 9**

Fang kept her held close to him as she slumbered, keeping a watchful eye on everyone in the tunnel. After about an hour, Max mumbled something about cookies being nicer than jam and fidgeted, her head slipping from his shoulder to his chest before she settled once more. Not only was new angle uncomfortable for Fang, it wasn't a natural position to sleep in either.

He didn't want her to crick her neck.

After a few minutes of failing to find a comfortable position for them both, Fang carefully lifted her legs onto his lap so she wasn't at quite a strange angle and pulled her tighter to him around her waist. Her arms flopped into his lap as she wriggled slightly, settling comfortably into the new position still fast asleep. He stroked some of her hair from her face and, without really thinking about it, left a soft kiss on her forehead.

Resting his cheek on her head, his focus still refused to slip. In his current surroundings, his senses had been on overdrive all morning. More so when he noticed the strange guy from before had returned during their discussion with cyber lad, and was watching them yet again. Fang followed him just as carefully as before, giving him another intimidating Fang-like stare. The man seemed less phased than the last time, shrugging and wandering towards one of the fire bins.

No matter how much he wanted to up and leave, Fang couldn't bring himself to wake her. She needed this sleep. Its not like anyone would have the chance to do anything to her. He wouldn't let them.

Max stirred about three quarters of an hour after she fidgeted. He _really_ needed to make sure she got a proper, restful nights sleep soon, plus a morning free of drama. She was beginning to look a little…dead. Fang turned his attention back to her as she squirmed in his arms, lifting his cheek from her head. He head shot up within seconds, Fang yet again just avoiding an additional bruise to the jaw as she looked around in her usual, panicky way. After a few seconds, her gaze fell on Fang's eyes, soft yet piercing.

"You're going to know my jaw off one day," he mumbled, letting a small smile grace his face. It instantly got a smile from Max, that one he missed so much when times were hard.

"Why am I on your lap..?" she queried softly. He expected her smile to fade, but it continued to hang on even as she yawned. She liked being this close to him. Mr. Unemotional had put her _on his lap_. He'd been very un-Fang recently, with the talkativeness and, well…what Max could only describe as closeness. Holding her hand, caring when someone else would have already called the funny farm on her butt.

Not that he'd melted in a soft, squishable Fang. He was still the master of the stony glare, as demonstrated when talking to the rude kid with the laptop. He was being squishable for _her_.

"You fidgeted. This was easier than holding you at the side." he stated matter-of-factly, still in a soft voice, loosening his arms very slightly from her waist. "Plus it was easier to watch you and the rest of this lot at the same time if I knew exactly where you were…" He was fighting the urge to brush the stray strands of blond hair hanging in front of her left eye away, as he had done when she was asleep.

"Sounds like excuses to me," Max teased as she wriggled in his embrace. Fang instantly took his arms from around her, allowing her to drop down to the floor. Once there, she stretched. She certainly felt more awake this time round, and fewer of her muscles strained as she pulled them back into place. She seemed to sleep better when Fang was holding her, she noted. _POP_ went her shoulder.

That was getting really annoying.

Fang dropped down just behind her, not feeling the need to stretch his muscles out. Even if he had it would be futile. Every muscle in his body was poised for fight or flight, his eyes constantly gazing over the people of the under city. Most were still ignoring the pair, just accepting them at face value. Runaways. A few, like the weird man, had taken an interest. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

"So we're going to look into this institute thing?" Max looked round at him, noting his eyes were still scanning the area even after he asked her a question. He certainly wasn't comfortable staying here. It was obvious to anyone who looked at him and his body language, let alone what his eyes were letting Max in on.

"Ready when you are," she answered, and Fang didn't waste a second taking a hold of her hand. His desire to leave the place easily reflected in his speed.

"Good." He answered, leading her back towards the tunnels they had used to get down there. "'Bout time we got out of this place."

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Max took a few moments to take in a huge lungful of air. It had taken about ten minutes, plus the time spent pressed against subway walls to avoid the cars, to get out of that dump. The air above ground suddenly smelt so much more appealing after a night in dim and dank under city. Suddenly, she broke into a coughing fit, the car fumes getting to the back of her throat.

It wasn't _that_ clean, but in comparison to the undercity it was like a field of flowers.

Fang was just relieved to be out, away from the more human threats of the world and back into know territory. Erasers were more of a threat up here, and he preferred it to normal humans he could shatter the ribs of using a punch that would just wind Max. It was too easy to break people.

"So where should we start looking?" Max's query brought is attention back to her. Now in the sunlight, he could see her properly again. Her hair was still lank and dirty, hanging around her face in raggedy waves. Her new clothes looked dirty from sleeping on that ledge, the rip in her jumper seemed to be getting bigger by the day.

"Where would have information on something like that?" he responded, deciding not to say anything about her appearance. Not like he looked or, to his one nose, smelt any better. She simply shrugged, looking out the already crowded street. Seconds passed.

"How about breakfast, then think?" she asked, looking him in the eyes. "Most important meal of the day, right?"

Fang cringed inwardly. That was one of Jeb's favourite sayings. Even if he was right, he hated that man. He simply nodded, gazing around the street for a vendor selling something breakfast worthy.

"Mmm…I smell roasted peanuts…" Well, that was breakfast decided upon. Fang turned round and raised an eyebrow.

"Peanuts for breakfast?" he commented, trying not to smile when he was Max. She had a happy grin across her face, eyes closed as she smelt the air. She tilted onto her tiptoes for a couple of seconds before falling back to her feet and opening her eyes, looking at Fang.

"Yeah! It like that tasteless grainy type thing Jeb used to make us eat for breakfast sometimes with the nuts in, but without the grainy bit." She was still smiling, obviously very happy with her idea.

"Muesli." Fang named the breakfast she was trying to describe before walking up to her. "Lead the way."

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Walking along yet another street of shops and houses, Fang popped another hot peanut in his mouth and crunched. It felt like they'd been doing this for hours, yet a check on the sun's position told him it was just an hour tops.

Repressing a bored sigh, he took a glance at Max as he chewed another peanut. She was munching away on her own bag, but her attention was not on the food itself. Her eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, looking for anything that might hold information on something like the Institute.

She wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for. Hoping for a big, red flashing sigh with 'THE INSTITUTE AND ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HYBRIDS' was probably ridiculous, but it would have been useful. Fang was also having the same kind of issues with this whole idea. It was all well and good deciding to go and look for information, another to actually figure out where to find it. Burying his hand back in the bag, he fished about for another peanut.

His hand came out empty.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he screwed the empty bag up and threw it down on the street. This wandering was getting stupid. Max had to have realised they needed another tactic.

"Max, thi-" he began, but was interrupted as Max pointed forwards.

"Look, Fang, a library! They have computers, right?" She asked, a glimmer of hope shining in her eyes. Fang followed her finger. Sure enough there was a large, Roman coliseum-looking building with large white pillars and many stone steps leading up to its oversized, oak double doors. The building was the same colour of the pillars, and seemed to be made of the same material, or at least similar. Etched into it, in huge letters above the door, it said:

**LIBRARY**

_How does she _do_ that?_ Fang thought, looking back to Max with his face as straight as ever. She seemed to be waiting for his opinion rather than rushing ahead and scampering up the stone steps. He blinked at her before giving a single nod of his head. With that, she took his wrist and started leading the way through the crowded streets towards the Library.

She'd let him co-decide something? _That_ was kinda new…

-

Max smacked her head against the desk, hitting the edge of the keyboard as she did so. _nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn _typed itself into the Google search engine screen as she repeatedly hit her head.

They'd been there all freakin' day. All they'd found was how many Institutes were actually in existence in New York, and that a surprising number of them seemed to be dog grooming parlours. Every time they typed _The Institute for Higher Living_ into the search engine, they either encountered encrypted data, a site diversion or it was another dog groomer's weekly discount page. Hitting her head again, Max groaned.

Now her headache was back.

"That cant be helping," Fang's cool voice invaded her thoughts and she tilted her head to look at him. He was sat, slightly slouched in his chair, his eyes completely glued to the screen. His hand moved the mouse as he occasionally clicked things.

"How can you not smash your head against something?" Max asked, twisting her head back to rest her forehead against the desk once more. "We've been here _hours_, and all we know is its cheaper to book our poodle in for a cut and style on a Wednesday afternoon."

"And beating myself senseless is going to help me how?" Oh, that evil logic was rearing its ugly head again. She sat up, letting out an aggravated sigh as she massaged her temples, trying to ward off the headache she could feel coming. He was right, especially with her brain explosions and all. Not that she'd admit it out loud.

"Then what would you suggest?" she asked softly, glancing at him. He shrugged, never taking his eyes off the screen as he clicked link after link. That was helpful.

She flinched, holding her head in her hands as her head underwent a mini explosion. Images and codes flickered through her mind and she groaned softly. Why did this keep happening when she already had the voice in her head? Was it really _necessary_?!

"Uh..Max?" she looked at him through half closed eyes. He was still looking at that damn computer screen. Max made a quick mental note not to let him get a computer. Ever.

"What?" she managed to get out, her head feeling like it would combust any minute. He motioned to the screen, still not saying a word, his jaw set seriously. Max glanced up, and groaned again. Text scrolled repeatedly own the screen in large, bright green text.

_**Yes, Maximum, if you want my help.**_

_Will it always hurt like hell?_ she though back, as the Voice seemed to be able to see into her mind as well. This time, the voice sounded in her head as well as scrolling down Fang's computer screen.

_**I don't want it to hurt Max, I'm sorry it does.**_

_**I just want to help.**_

_Feel free, we're at a dead end here. _Max responded once again through thought, keeping her eyes glued to fangs computer. No more text scrolled down it, and the screen flickered on and off before coming back onto the site Fang had been on. He turned to Max and raised an eyebrow.

"Having a good conversation, were we?" he asked, his eyes reflecting concern his face refused to show. He was certain it wasn't normal for people to have silent conversations with computer screen. Max wasn't really paying attention. Images still flickered through her mind, codes and scientists and data files make her brain pulse with pain.

Fang furrowed his eyebrows, about to get up and try to comfort her when his eyes were drawn to Max's own screen. On it flickered images and codes. Streams and streams of codes followed by scientists and buildings. One image kept coming up again and again, one he didn't recognise. It was of a large, greenish colour building in a street he'd never seen. Curious, he looked a little closer. There was no name or anything above the door or outside.

Suddenly her screen went black as Max let out a small whimper. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, then his eyes were drawn back to the screen as big, bright green words flashed in and out against the black background.

_**Thirty-First Street**_

A few more flickers and the words were gone. Seconds afterwards the computer screen flickered back into life, back to the Google search page. Fang quickly looked back at Max. She lifted her head out of her hand, a few tear streaks marked her face, but otherwise she wasn't too bad off. She went to speak, but Fang cut her off.

"I saw it all on the computers," he said, eliciting a groan from Max. He imagined it wasn't the most pleasing idea, the thought of everything running through your head being broadcast onto the computers around her. "You think the Institute is on Thirty-First Street?" he continued as she wiped her face on her jumper.

"Only lead we've got," she replied, her voice a little shuddery. Her head still hurt, Fang knew it, But he decided not to comment. Instead he started shutting his computer down, getting ready to leave. Max turned back to her computer and took the mouse in her still slightly shaking hand, looking up at the Google search bar.

The text she'd head-banged into the search box was missing, and had been replaced by four new ones. Ones that made Max rub her tear-blurred eyes. Still there, she pulled Fang by the sleeve to look at the text too. His eyebrows shot up in supressed surprise.

_Save the World, Max._

If only Google knew the answer to that one.


	10. Mother

**Ok, veeeery late XD its past my bedtime, shhhhhhhh~ ...anyway, wow, ten chapters...I'm going to run out of book soon...and more impaortnaly, how am i going to end this? oO;**

**Choices people. If anyone has an opinion on these, a PM would be awesome. I say PM as i dun want poeple to know which one i choose yet :P and imma do it on a vote, if enough people give me their opinions.**

**1. The Flock is alive! Sequel (aaaaaah) to find them/ 2. The Flock are deaded. Sequel maaaybe, but kinda follow good ol' James P's idea again/ 3. Max and Fang die in a squishy, emtional yet tear inducing way/ 4. ...im working on 4...**

**Opinions would be greatly appreciated xP as im not sure which one i like most yet, and i kinda need opinions before i advance this fic too far...to tie it all in.

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**dallascowboysncountrymusicfan: I hope he liked his hug :D and yeah, depressing resuts really...**

**happyasusual4: Gldd you like it :)**

**5253Racer: You have your wish granded, dude =3**

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**Part 10**

It struck Max half way along Thirty-First street it would have been a better idea to check the building's location more precisely. There appeared to be an East and West of this particularly long and un-vendor populated street. Having walked all the way down the wrong end she'd almost knocked herself unconscious head butting a wall in frustration.

Fang, of course, had just shrugged and turned around, walking in the now seemingly correct direction. Not that he wasn't as miffed as Max was, but he liked his brain in tact. Max quickly caught back up with him, her eyes scanning both sides of the street a second time as they made their way back to the library. By the time she got there, she felt like she was going to faint.

Peanuts only go _so _far, and it wasn't that far.

Fang seemed to be fine running on pigeon food, striding past their starting point at the same pace and heading up the other end of the road. Neither of them ever admitted to being hungry with the rest of the flock. It was easily left to Nudge to voice when her stomach was growling at her. With no Nudge to break the silence, Max trudged on as her stomach devoured itself. No way was she going to break before Fang.

Fang himself was peckish. More than just a little. He had chosen to zone it out, the only real reminded being when his stomach cramped up every ten minutes or so. Taking a glance at Max, she seemed to be faring fine, so he didn't say a word. He could keep going a little longer.

"There!" Max had to fight the urge to shout it, but it came out more enthusiastically than she originally meant it to. Ahead of them, just in raptor vision, was a large, dull green building easily 28 stories or more high. Finally, after all the walking, they'd found it.

Both bird kids picked up their pace, the goal post clearly in their sights.

Inside the building was depressing. Not by the colour scheme, that was a gorgeous beigey office colour everyone hates. Max hated it even more as they studied the posh, glass coated notice board with all the names of the offices probably hand painted on them by some overpaid twit.

Not a single Institute was listed, let alone a Higher Living one. Whatever the heck that last bit meant. Probably posh for 'Genetic Freak Workshop'.

Max let out an involuntary groan. They'd spent all day trying to find this place, walking miles and miles to get to the blasted building, to be met by a dead end. As Max had to prevent herself from smashing her head into the glass coating, Fang was still studying the writing, trying to find a hidden clue, cryptic messages, anagrams, anything that might help.

"Can I help you?" the voice was soft, yet had a sting in its tail. Looking round, Max saw them being stared at over the half-glasses of a rather old secretary. Her long grey hair was gathered tightly into a bun on her head, and she wore a white, frilled shirt with a dark blue blazer.

"Yes Ma'am," Fang answered quickly in his friendly, rarely heard 'sweet' voice. "Is every office in this building listed on the board here?" He didn't add a smile to his voice, that would just be a push too far, but his eyes seemed softer than usual. The woman didn't appreciate them as much as Max did.

"Yes," she answered curtly, swiveling her office chair to return to typing something seemingly incredibly important on the computer. Max sighed. There went their final chance.

_**There's gold at the base of every rainbow, Max.**_ She dropped her head into her palms, trying to hold back an outburst in frustration. That voice was so damn _cryptic._ She noticed Fang look at her concerned from the corner of her here, and shook her head very slightly to tell him she was fine.

_What? We should follow a rainbow?_ she thought as sarcastically as you can in your own head, noting quite surprised that her head wasn't threatening to explode.

_**We've worked out some tweaks.**_

_We? _She queried back, but the voice continued on its other path.

_**You just need to dig deeper.**_

_Care to elaborate..?_ Max had seriously had enough to today now, an easy way out was looking incredibly appealing. Of course, that was going to happen. The voice clammed up.

Perfect.

"Dig deeper…" she muttered to herself. Fang raised an eyebrow, but she waved him away again. Shrugging, he went back to examining the glass sign, his ever watchful eyes flicking back and forth between the sign, the secretary and the two burly looking guards by the main entrance to the offices.

_Dig deeper… _how do you dig deeper in concrete..? _Maybe it was metam- …metap- …meant to mean one thing represented by another…_ Max thought, her head still in her hand, her eyes closed. Then I clicked. Dig lower. She swiftly walked over to the receptionists desk.

"Excuse me?" she asked loudly. The receptionist gave her a small glance over her computer screen and continued to type. Max refused to move, leaning on her arms on the woman's desk. Minutes ticked by. Fang joined her and gave her a querying look she simply shrugged off. Finally, the receptionist let out a large, over-exaggerated sigh and gave the kids her full attention.

"Can I help you?" Oh, there was definitely more steel in her voice this time.

"Does this building have a basement?" Max attempted to ask as sweetly as Fang, throwing in a small, polite smile for good measure. She expected the woman maybe to at least twitch her lip, but instead she frowned.

"Why does that concern you?" She asked, her voice harder. Max's smile dropped from her face, replaced by a similar serious frown.

"Was only a query," she stated defensively, all subtle sweetness gone. "Is there one?"

The secretary didn't reply. Fang noticed her tilt her head very slightly, her chin being raised up for a millisecond, if not a tiny bit more. The security guards pushed themselves off the wall and started advancing.

"We'll take that as a maybe," Fang told Max as he grabbed her by the wrist and started started sprinting for the door, giving the woman behind the desk a sharp glare. The bird duo had shot out of the spinning glass doors and were a block away before the security guards made it outside.

Regular humans. They were slow. Which was awesome.

Stopping almost six blocks from the Institute, both teens dropped their hands onto the knees and bent a little, exhaustedly trying to catch some breath. There were no cops, no erasers and no security guards to be seen. Once she got her breath back, Max rubber her face with her sleeve, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"This is ridiculous," she voiced her thoughts, looking round at Fang. He'd already recovered from their run, even if he did look a bit of the sweaty side. He watched her silently as she drapped her palm down over her jaw and neck. "Every time we take a step forwards, we take another five backwards! We don't even know why we're going to the Institute yet!" Fang expected an outburst, but instead she just closed her eyes and rocked backwards and forwards on her feet as she let thoughts and ideas run through her mind.

The adrenaline from their run was still slipping away, making her shudder slightly. She was lost in her own little world. Until her hairs on the back of her neck pricked up. Before she had time to react, strong warm arms wrapped themselves around her waist an a chin rested itself on her shoulders. She didn't have to look to know who it was.

Fang mimicked her rocking motion with his own feet as he held Max to him. He could feel her quivering, her muscles were tensed. Poised to make a getaway, adrenaline making her system shudder. Closing his eyes, Fang gently shushed her as she rocked them both. His own rush was still seeping away, his unnecessarily tight grip around her wait illustrating it to Max. Following suit, she closed her eyes and lent her head against his, letting him rock her back and forth. Back and forth.

It wasn't long before both of them were relaxed once more, Fang's arms holding her close rather than suffocating her. Max felt a little light headed and sick, her stomach once again complaining about the lack of nourishment, but she didn't want to move.

She felt safe and secure.

The teens stood there for a few precious extra minutes, enjoying the silent and steady sway Fang was making. After minutes that felt like mere seconds, Max spoke.

"I think we should get something to eat," she mumbled softly, just loud enough for Fang to hear. She felt him nod, but he continued to rock her for a few extra moments, tightening his arms just a little more before letting go.

"What should we get?" he asked softly. He'd let go of her waist, but he was still resting his head on her shoulder, his breath tickling Max's ear. She shrugged, flinching seconds after a she jostled his head, but he didn't comment.

"Not like we have a lot of money…" Max mused, silently wishing Fang's arms were back around her.

_**Step on a crack, break the bank.**_

Max repressed the scream building in her throat. Seriously, it was like having rush hour in her head sometimes. Trying not to let Fang in on her discussion, she stayed silent.

_I thought it was break your mother's back? _Max queried, remembering the old rhyme Jeb had told them many years before.

_**Step on a crack, break the bank.**_

_Alright…cryptic again, eh?_ Max thought, not really noticing as Fang pulled his chin away from her shoulder let alone walk in front of her. _Lets see…step on a crack, step on a crack._

"What's this?" Fang's interrupted her musings and she snapped her eyes open. He was squatted down next to a small gap between two paving stones, staring at it intensely.

"I don't see anything Fang…" Max mumbled, annoyed she'd have to start her trail of thought again. He didn't let it go though, digging into his jumper pocket for their trusty pair of scissors and jamming it deep into the crack. After a few seconds of manoeuvring, Max could finally see what Fang was on about.

Sticking out between the two paving stones was a small, plastic thing.

Fang levered it a little more, then pulled on the plastic. The card slipped easily from between the paving stones and Fang looked up at her. She wasn't really shocked or anything, just watching him closely. He carefully stored the scissors away again, turning the card over to look at the front as he walked towards her.

"…guess this is for you." Fang stated, holding out the piece of plastic to Max. She took it, giving him a querying look as she examined the back. Was just a card.

"Turn it over." He instructed, his voice not letting any indication of what might be in store for Max when she complied slip in. She turned it over cautiously, like it might explode in her hands. Studying it for a few seconds, her eyes grew wide as she failed to hide a small, surprised gasp.

It was a bank card. With her name on it.

-

Max was still examining the bank card as she and Fang walked their way back to the park. It _looked _authentic enough, numbers and dark coloured bands in the right places. It even had her name printed on it in big, happy capital letters.

**MAXIMUM RIDE**

_**You can use it if you figure out the security code. **_The voice chimed in on her musings, and Max uttered a sigh. Fang looked at her sideways as they walked side by side.

"The voice says we need to figure out the security code," she said without looking up, feeling his piecing gaze fall on her. Both bird kids fell into silence as they debated in their heads what the pin code could be. Every machine they encountered allowed them three tries after swiping the card, except the ones you had to put the card right inside.

Needless to say they avoided those.

After trying all of the names of their flock, their initals in order and reverse order of age, and a couple of random stabs in the dark, Max was beginning to give up hope. Everything was falling apart today. This wasn't a huge letdown.

Sliding the sensitive bar through yet another machine, Max sighed when it asked for their security code. It was inevitable, and yet it made her want to curl up in the foetal position and rock backwards and forwards slowly. She tried hers and Fang's self given birthdays, to no avail. Using the machine as balance, she slouched over it, fighting the urge to kick the damn thing.

_Hard_.

"I'll have another stab," Fang said quietly, and she lifted her head up to look at him. He looked confident, like he had the utmost faith in his idea. Max wished she could have too, but pushed herself away from the machine and let Fang in front of the keys. She had nothing to loose after all.

His fingers slid across the keys fast, not allowing max to acknowledge the code he was putting in. His selection came up in stars on the screen. After a few seconds hesitation, Fang clicked enter.

_HOW MUCH WOULD YOU LIKE TO WITHDRAW?_

Max was speechless, quickly pressing their daily maximum of $200 and snatching the money away from the machine before it could eat it again. Stuffing it in her pocket, she and Fang quickly left the area, now fully funded for a good meal and some breakfast the following morning.

"Want to know what it was?" Fang broke the ten minute silence as they headed back for the Park. Max nodded in response, looking up at him rather than the road ahead.

"Mother." he said simply, not taking his eyes off the street ahead of them. Max frowned slightly, and was about to question him further before he spoke. "Its what you were, Max." He added, looking at her in the eyes.

"To the Flock."

Max really wasn't quite sure what to say anymore. She'd looked after the Flock like her own children, but she'd never considered herself to be that…motherly to them. Of course she loved them, but there was so much she didnt do. She didn't bake. She didn't take them on happy family outings. She didn't help them with their homework. Not that they had any.

_**You were always there for them, Maximum. That's what parents do.**_

Well, crap. You know you're screwed when the Voice in your head figures something out before you do.

Silence fell over the couple once more as Max looked back down at the pavement, pondering what the voice and Fang had been implying. If this voice, whoever it belonged to, were trying to help them, why would it torment her by bringing the Flock back up? If anything, it made her want the floor to swallow her whole and never let her see the light of day again.

She felt Fang's hand take hers and give it a little squeeze. Ignoring her usual step at this point, she looked straight up from the floor and at Fang directly. He wasn't saying anything, his face set like stone against any emotion that might try and surface. But his eyes said one clear sentence to her without the need for words.

_I miss them too._


	11. Failed Distraction

**Part 11, finally a part up earlier than it should be rather than later. You can tell i had nothing to do today, right? =P besides hoover the stairs and phone doctors and things. Updates might cease for a little bit soon, blood test came back clear so its a specialist next, yaaaay... This chapter is Fang attempting to cheer Max up. Its fluff and not much plot =P so yeah, if you dont like fluff dont read.**

**dallascowboysncountrymusicfan: You liked that fluff, you should like this =P and now you mention it...it does kinda remind me of peter pan XD**

**happyasusual4: no worries lol, my reviews are always really vague...thanks for thinking though =3**

**5253Racer: Thankyees for reading :)

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**Part 11**

Fang sneaked glances at Max as they made their way back towards the park. She looked exactly how he was feeling beneath his stony façade. Her head was angled towards the ground, her step slower than usual. She hadn't needed the reminder of what they'd lost. All the thoughts she'd stored at the back of her mind, images of her family blotted from her conscious so she could carry on, were dancing behind her eyes.

Fang tightened his hand around hers. They needed a holiday. Bad.

It was this that prompted the suggestion of eating out for once. Not in the dumpster exploration sense, but at a proper restaurant, with tables and forks and napkins and entrees. Max hadn't jumped at the idea first, her usual paranoia of public places kicking in at the mere suggestion, but Fang insisted. He'd be just as nervous as she was, but she needed this. Something to distract her.

They wandered slowly down a street near the park, having no idea where to actually go to find a place to eat out. All of the restaurants along this road looked posh and expensive. Not that it mattered about the money now they had a bank card, but more the fact they'd stick out like a sore thumb in their tattered, bedraggled clothes. Finally, after about ten minutes searching, they decided on a restaurant on the corner of the street.

It was, to say the least, huge. And certainly posh. Fang pulled open the heavy glass door with ease, motioning Max to go ahead of him. Inside the foyer, it looked even bigger than the outside gave it credit for. Like they'd walked from the street into a manor house. Around the tables, poshly dressed people sipped wine and laughed at murmured jokes. Max pulled a face.

The certainly weren't going to blend here.

They set about looking like normal, hungry people, waiting as patiently as a starving bird kid can for a waiter to notice them. Not surprisingly, it didn't take long.

"Can I help you?" A waiter with a piece of white material flopped over his arm stepped up to the menu podium, eyeing the teens in a discerning manor. He viewed them with a slight look of disgust just visible by the grimace in the corner of his mouth. He probably wanted to turn them away and help kick them out the door.

"Table for two please" Fang stated smoothly, his stony face set to its usual seriousness. Max gave the waiter a smile, wishing Angel was here to play her Bambi eyes on the guy. His look of distain didn't shift.

"Are you waiting for your parents?" he asked snootily, looking up behind them towards the glass doors. No one on their way in. He sighed, annoyed at having to deal with riff-raff off the street. Near the park was no place to put a restaurant of such caliber.

"I'm treating my boyfriend with my birthday money," Max lied, keeping her smile plastered across her face, hoping to God it didn't look fake. Fang repressed raising his eyebrow and instead took her hand, giving the waiter a curt nod coupled with his usual, piercing stare.

"Apparently I'm not allowed to pay," Fang added evenly, rolling his eyes slightly at the waiter. "Women, right?"

Finally, the waiter let a small smirk grace his face. It was a tiny, hardly noticeable like Fang's own smile. "One moment please, and I'll find you a table." There was still reservation playing in his eyes, but the waiter tuned and walked out into the restaurant, assumedly to find a spare couple of seats.

Max elbowed Fang in the ribs, who gave her a 'What?' look. She rolled her eyes exasperatedly, and he flashed her his ever so adorable smirk. Max couldn't help but smile with him. He'd got them a table after all, even if it was at her expense.

The waiter soon returned, picking up two over sized menus and beckoning them to follow. He looked flustered, like he'd had an argument with someone and lost. Thinking nothing of it, the couple followed, still hand in hand, as he led them to their table.

Settling into a two seat table in a corner, Max looked about nervously, checking for exits. The kitchen wasn't too far away. That could be an emergency exit point if necessary. That and the huge windows that lined the place could also be a valuable escape route, if not a bit exposed if there were people outside. Sighing, she sit back and looked up. Above them was a huge skylight, orange sky could be seen though it. The sun was setting. Beautiful as always.

"We got $200 out, right? That's probably going to cover the tip." Fang mumbled, his face buried in the menu in front of him. Max picked up her own and almost had a heart attack. Good thing they had this card, or they'd have to make a run for it before they spent any money. She scanned the menu herself, noting the wide variety of stuff to choose from at ridiculous prices.

It had better taste good.

"When did I get upgraded to boyfriend?" Fang asked, still hiding his face behind the enormous menu. Max flushed slightly, picking up her own menu to hide behind.

"I had to tell him something _convincing,_" she mumbled a response just loud enough for him to hear. "I couldn't exactly go 'Well, my parents wear white lab coats and play with genetics, but we're fine on our on thanks' could I?" She heard Fang chuckle. Been a _looong_ time since he'd done that,

"Well would have made good conversation," Fang replied a few seconds after, flopping his menu onto the table and running his finger down the list of steaks.

_Figures,_ Max thought, resting her own menu back against he table now her flush had gone. She had absolutely no idea what to have. She was also pretty sure they'd have to order more than one thing to fill up their starved 3000 calorie crunching appetites.

"Excuse me, are you ready to order?" it was the waiter, back again and armed with a pad and pen. He seemed to be cheerful enough, the redness in his face having faded to a very slight pink. Fang looked up, noting the fake smile with ease.

He'd seen Max's too many times.

"Ladies first," Fang gestured to Max on the other side of the table. "Especially since she's paying," he smirked very slightly. Max stuck her tongue out, ignoring the look the waiter gave her for it as she dove back into her menu,

"I think I'll have the prawn cocktail thingy, and then…the maple glazed roast pork loin with all the stuff it comes with…how big is that?" Max asked, looking up at the waiter. He blinked, looking down at Fang who simply shrugged. Slowly, the waiter pulled his hands apart in front of him in a prediction of the size of the pork loin. Max cocked her head.

"Not very big…I'll have two of those." The waiter blinked at her again as she continued. "And a bleu cheese salad, with an iced tea and a coke." She looked up. The waiter was still giving her funny looks. "What?" she asked. "Got to save room for dessert."

After a few moments the waiter flicked his pad open and wrote as much of the order as he could remember down, already deciding these kids were having him on. They didn't look well dressed enough to even be in here with their parents, let alone on their own with birthday money. _Maybe she stole it…_ he thought, now looking at Fang.

"The Lobster Bisque," he said simply, not looking back down to the menu. "And a Prime rib. Do bottles of water?" The waiter nodded. "One of those as well."

The waiter looked back at Max. "Are you sure you'll be able to eat all of this?" he pressed again, running his pen down the list on his notepad. "Two pork loins is a lot of meat, they aren't really that small…"

"Nope, I'm a heart eater." Max waved off his concerns and folded the menu shut, holding it out to him. He took it, giving her one last, slightly annoyed look and turned to Fang. He seemed to be nose deep in the menu still.

"I'll take that for you Sir, and bring you bread and drinks." he said, reaching to take the menu away from him. Fang folded it and held it out, but didn't let go when the waiter took and tugged slightly on the opposite end.

"I'll get a lasagne too," he said as he let go, dropping his arm back onto the table. "And an ice tea." The waiter blinked a few times, nodded and took the menus away. Fang turned his attention back to Max, who was playing with the tablecloth nervously.

"Think they were shocked by how much we ordered," he commented. Max brought her eyes back up to meet his and nodded.

"Hopefully they'll just let us eat it and go, I mean, you'd think they'd _want_ us to buy more, wouldn't you? To spend more." She looked back down at the tablecloth, gently pulling at the threading.

Their drinks and bread rolls turned up soon afterward. As Max was buttering her fifth roll, she noted the waiter returning with a rather large and snooty looking man. He had a curly mustache turned up in a silly fashion and looked like he was exploding out of his trousers. Fang turned to follow her gaze as he popped the last of his roll into his mouth. Sighing, he turned back to look at Max, speaking after he swallowed.

"Least we got the free bread," he muttered, putting his butter knife down and reaching for another roll. By the time he broke it in half, the waiter and his new companion had stopped at their table.

"Hello there." Yup. His voice was as snooty as he looked. "I'm the manager of this establishment. I understand there's some issues with your order." He was looking at Fang, who was quietly buttering another piece of bread. After he finished, he looked up at the man beside him.

"I didn't think there was an issue," he said, taking a bite from his roll. The manager didn't seem to agree.

"It was reported to me you ordered a rather substantial amount of food for just the pair of you. Are you waiting to be joined by your parents?" Fang chewed his bread slowly, taking his time to swallow before answering.

"Not that I'm aware. We're just hungry." he stated, taking yet another bite, hiding a smirk as the manager started to go red like a tomato. Max was quietly munching on her on roll, her eyes flicking between the ever reddening Manager and Fang's cool, calm exterior.

"Well, we wouldn't want to waste food, especially if it didn't need to be ordered." Manager Man continued politely, now taking a glance at Max.

"It wouldn't be, we'd eat it." she chimed in between bites of rolls. Fang simply nodded in agreement. I it was possible to go more red than tomato, the manager went there.

"Perhaps you'd be more comfortable in a different restaurant," he added, a fake smile much like the waiter's plastered across his face. Fang frowned slightly.

"But we want to eat here., and we have money. What's the problem?" He queried in one of the longest sentences Fang had ever said.

The manager opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by police sirens blaring out from the street. The waiter smirked, and Max wanted to punch him. Why the hell did they need to call the cops?! They just wanted t eat something decent! Fang was already on his feet. They were in a corner after all, not much you can do in the way of escaping if they had you cornered from the off.

Policemen swarmed in from the front doors and the kitchen, surrounding them before Max really had a chance to get out of her corner. Fang, by principle, wasn't going to dash off without her.

"Come on kids, we'll take you to the station ad call your parents." One officer suggested in a soft voice, obviously she was the 'Good Cop'. 'Bad cop' could be seen near the entrance to the kitchen a stick already in his hand. Max flinched as it hit his palm with a loud 'thwack'. Fang was searching the place for other exits, shimmying round the back of the table to get next to Max.

"Cops outside as well. U and A?" he whispered to her, motioning up to the ceiling. She took a glance up and noticed the skylight once more. Great. There was only one way to get up there. If here were cops outside they couldn't just break through a window and make a run for it. They could be hiding anywhere. After a few seconds, she nodded.

"On three." Police were closing in, surrounding their little corner. She felt Fang's muscles tense next to her, ready to jump.

"One." Fang took one jump onto the table and leapt off it, opening his large, black wings wide and moving them powerfully to keep airborne. All of the police officers mouths hit the floor in amazement, giving Max enough time to get onto the table and leap off, unfurling her own tawny wings. Fang was heading for the skylight at full speed, tucking his wings in and covering his head as he smashed through the delicate glass. Max quickly grabbed an untouched breadbasket and followed Fang out the skylight, tucking her wings in to avoid ripping them to shreds.

Outside, police officers stood and stared as the two teens flew across the sky and away from the commotion now coming from the restaurant. After a full circle way up in the clouds to check no one was watching, they descended into the all too familiar park, into the tallest three they could find.

"Gawd, was I wrong to think we could get a single nights peace…" he muttered irritably, leaning his head back against the thick tree trunk with his eyes closed.

"Was a nice idea though, Fang…" Max's voice broke the silence a few moments later, so soft it was almost lost in the wind.

"Shame it didn't work out. Didn't help at all." he replied just as quietly, clenching and un-clenching his fist in annoyance. After a few seconds, he turned his head in the direction her voice had come from. He could see her hair pressed against the trunk where she rested her head, but nothing more. She shrugged, not really realising he couldn't see her.

"It's the thought that counts," Max mumbled softly. Another Jeb phrase. They needed to read a few books or something, seriously. He was still quite beat up about it not working out. After all, he just wanted her to forget about not being normal, and all the crap they went through every day.

Having to fly out a skylight in front of 50-odd gawking people hadn't really helped that much.

Something tapped him on the arm. Turning, he saw Max's hand holding out a basket of bread, her face peeking just round the tree trunk. Smiling at her, he took a couple of the rolls and bit into one, wishing he'd thought to take some butter with him. Though it probably would have ended up with glass in it.

"Thank you," Max whispered as she nestled back onto her branch, taking a roll out the basket herself to nibble it. Fang heard, but he didn't reply. They sat in silence as they finished off the rolls between them, Max jamming the empty basket between a fork in the branches before settling back into her place and closing her eyes.

"Max..?" Fang's voice sounded through the silence.

"Mm..?" she queried, keeping her eyes closed as she started drifting off to sleep. It was a quiet evening, it wouldn't take long to drift off withstood anything to prevalent to worry about.

"Am I still boyfriend, or just Fang?" Max opened her eyes. Now _that_ caught her off guard. Peering back round the tree truck, she could see Fang sat in a similar way to how she had been. His head was leant back against the tree, his eyes closed. One leg was extended along his branch, the other flopped lazily over the side, hanging in the air.

"We'll see," she whispered, hoping he wouldn't look round. He didn't, just smiled very slightly to himself as he slipped a little further down the tree trunk, getting comfortable.

"Night," he whispered back, folding his arms into his lap.

"Night…" Max mumbled, letting a smile grace her own face as she settled back against the tree trunk and tucked her chilly hands into her jacket.

The whole day had been a _complete _waste of time, then…


	12. Makeover Time, Whoop

** Dudes...I'm sorry if this chapter lacks...luster, especially towards the end... I had a _realllly_ crap day, and just...couldnt put my heart into it properly. Blame my dad having a shout at me for no real reason.**

**Job hunting. Guh. Kill me now.**

**Anyway, here it is, I'm trying not to lapse on these...**

**Also, the guy at the end is an impression of an english Chav, but colourful. And i didnt have time to reread this the seventy eleven times i usually do before posting, going out, thank GOD, or i might murderalise my dad...  
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**dallascowboysncountrymusicfan: Yeeeeah, i really didn't like Lisa, being a diehard FAX fan. Therefore, she _will_ be pushed away if i do a sequel, as will that Sam dude. Unless I need them for plot or something...i might be evil here...**

**CRAZY: thanks :) always nice to see a new reader.**

**happyasusual4: lol I try, I try...  


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**Part 12**

Fang was the first to wake the following morning. It was strange. Before the incident with the School she'd always been up at the crack of dawn, never much of a sleeper either. Now she seemed to be sleeping into a more normal time. The brain attacks must have taken more out of her than she thought.

Tilting his head up, he examined the sky as he let the events of the previous day run though his head. Lying low had been a major bust. He didn't remember anyone with cameras, but knowing this money-orientated world someone would have sold their 'experience' to the papers. They'd have to find somewhere to hide for a few days.

Just not in the subway tunnels.

Turning his head slightly, he could see Max sleeping peacefully against the tree trunk. She'd curled up and twisted to the side, so he could just see her hair-covered face and one of her arms. Her legs hung precariously off the edge of her branch, her fingers twitched very slightly. She was dreaming.

Fang smiled slightly. They'd need to find something reasonably nutritional today, even if it was fast food with that crappy salady stuff they used. Bread and peanuts wasn't exactly brilliant for your system, his stomach was already complaining. Deciding to let her sleep as long as she wanted, he turned back and leant his head against the tree once more, closing his eyes, letting his mind wander. But he found it continuously falling on the same thing again and again.

She'd called him her _boyfriend._

He wasn't really sure why it was a big deal to him. He wanted to believe it wasn't, but it just wouldn't work the way he wanted it to. It played on his mind. She'd said 'We'll see'. Was she being playful, or did she really mean it? Sighing softly, he curled his legs up and held his legs to his chest, leaning his chin on his knees. He'd ask her later, when they found something to eat or when a better time came up.

Watching the birds fly overhead, he didn't have to wait long before Max stirred. His first indication of her waking was a curse word as she almost fell off her branch. Fang smirked slightly to himself, not moving an inch or even opening his eyes as she heard the rustling of branches.

"Morning," her soft, sleepy voice finally opening Fangs eyelids as he turned to look at her. She was now settled on the slightly smaller branch between them, her legs swinging in the air as she stretched. She had a small twig sticking out the top of her already tangled hair, her clothes even dirtier and grubbier than before.

Yet she looked beautiful

"Hey," he replied softly, turning slightly to look at her properly. She gave him a small, sleepy-contented smile as she held the branch beneath her, continuing to swing her legs absently. He gave her an adorable smile back, reaching forwards and pulling the twig from her hair. Max recoiled a little as she did so, a force of habit. Her turned the tiny twig over in his fingers, shrugged and flicked it to the floor before turning his attention back to Max.

"Might want to use the hairbrush," Fang commented, reaching out again to smooth her hair where the twig had been. "You look a bit tussled."

Max ran her fingers through her hair, where her fingers almost immediately got tangled in its knots. She sighed, thanking Fang as she took the brush he was now holding out to her and beginning to run it through her hair. It was easier this time, only a few days or dirt and drama having knotted it.

"I need to get this cut," she mumbled as she finished brushing it through, holding the brush out to Fang. He took it and slipped it back into his jumper pocket.

"Can have it done. We have money." He stated, looking back up at her. Max shook her head, looking out into the sky.

"Waste of money," she commented, her legs slowly coming to a stop as she focused on a bird in the distance, zooming in on it with her raptor vision "I can borrow those scissors when we find a mirror or something and hack most of it off." She looked back at Fang, who simply shrugged before looking at the bird she had been studying before. They stayed in silence for a few more seconds before Max broke the silence.

"You think we're mentioned in any newspapers or anything?" she mumbled, not taking her eyes off the bird.

"No idea," Fang replied, looking back at her. "Only one way to find out."

-

How she ended up carrying the piles of newspapers she really didn't know, but here she was, walking behind Fang with a pile of newspapers in her arms. They picked up one copy of each newspaper that they found a mention of them in, to study them further. If they knew what the public were looking for they could hide it.

Wings were an obvious one, but they hid those anyway.

Finally, after an hour of gathering the papers, Fang held the door open into a burger Café so Max could step inside. Flopping down in a booth by the emergency exit, she spread them over the table. Most of the newspapers had a single fuzzy image of them flying out of the building on the front page, apparently taken by a tourist who was 'in the right place at the right time'.

Thankfully, she hadn't been in a hot air balloon at the time. The picture was fuzzy. The two flying kids could easily be a trick on the computer or just a dodgy photo of two birds. Max sighed softly. It could have been much worse than it was.

Fang returned to the table with a tray of burgers, fries, ice creams and jumbo drinks, settling down next to Max and scanning the newspapers as he unwrapped a burger and sank his teeth into it. Max reached for a pack of fries, nibbling on one as Fang swallowed.

"Not particularly bad then. Not clear images." He commented before taking another large bite. That burger didn't stand a chance.

"Problem is the descriptions," Max added as she flipped a couple of paged into one of the newspapers. After a few seconds scanning the page, she pointed to a paragraph in the more detailed overview of the event. He leant closer, finishing off the first burger with one more mouthful.

"'_I was there' said a Mrs. Arbleberry, 59. '"We saw them come in. They looked scraggy, like pigeons off the street, but convinced the waiter to give them a seat. Soon after the manager went to deal with them. Riff-raff causing trouble, we assumed. Then the police turned up, and cornered them. That's when the boy jumped onto the table and leapt up higher. We all thought we'd drunk too much when he unfurled some dirty great wings and flew straight through the skylight. The girl wasn't far behind, stealing a basket of bread as she followed."_

_Everyone who were in the restaurant and many passers-by claimed to see the same sight. Two flying teenagers. Police artists drew renditions of the two from descriptions given by patrons who saw them, shown on page six…'_

Max was digging into a burger as Fang flipped to page 6 of the newspaper. The pictured were not particularly accurate, but they were close enough for someone who got too close to recognise them. Fang slouched back in his chair slightly, shoving a handful of fries into his mouth. Max looked over his shoulder at the pictures.

"Wow, do I look like that?" Max asked before taking another bite of her burger.

"Prettier," Fang answered, keeping his attention on his fries. Max could feel her cheeks burning as she looked at him in surprise, but his attention remained on the food. He'd probably do something stupid if he looked at her, so he decided against it. Max took it confusedly, but kept silent. The two ate in silence for a little longer, mulling over their options.

"What do you think of this Institute thing?" she finally broke the silence as she reached for a second pack of fries. Fang shrugged, still working his way though the pack in his hand.

"Didn't seem to be anything here," he stated. "Though they were very protective of the supposedly non-existent basement." Max nodded thoughtfully, chewing on a few fries at a time.

"Do you think its worth going back?" Fang looked at her, swallowing the last of his fries before speaking.

"Unless we can find a way into the basement without going in the main doors, not really." Fang said, unwrapping a burger. "That and there might be nothing there at all."

"True…"

After finishing his burgers and fries, Fang started playing with the ice cream in the tiny serving tub, swirling the spoon around to mix the little piece of chocolate into the ice cream itself.

"I think," he paused to examine the liquidy substance on his spoon. "That we should find some new clothes, and get away for a few days, let the excitement die down." He put the spoon in his mouth as he looked at Max, who seemed to be staring out the window mulling something over.

"Good idea," she said finally, reaching for her own ice cream. "Change of appearance and time for the media to give up. Works for me."

-

Finding a clothes shop was surprisingly hard for the pair, especially when they daren't not stop and ask for directions in case people recognised their hazy faces and announced their existence to the world. Max had the hood of her jacket she'd sworn to hack off over her face, Fang just let his hair hand over his features as they walked briskly along the city streets.

Max didn't like having her hood up, it obscured the three-sixty view she desired when she turned her head. It wasn that she didn't trust Fang to do it well, but that it was a security she liked, to be able to do it as well.

Four raptor eyes were better than two.

Their hands were clasped together between them as the pushed their way through the hoards of people. Fang was bringing up the front again. People seemed to part in front of him rather than having to jostle them out of the way.

_Probably his eyes,_ Max thought to herself, silently grateful if it was his eyes, that they had such a useful effect. They scoured the streets trying to find their way through the sea of city goers and get to anywhere that sold clothes. Unfortunately, they weren't having much luck at the moment. The stores were either ridiculously expensive, or weren't even a clothes shop. Heck of a lot of café's though.

Fang was beginning to get bored with the wandering, and seriously considering just going to a really expensive place. Max didn't want to, something to do with no idea on how much money was on her card. Made sense, they didn't know its limit, they should use it wisely, but he was seriously considering it. He also considered stopping and asking for directions. Wasn't likely someone would recognise them after all, but the small risk still evident was stopping him.

Behind him, Max was doing yet another three-sixty. Wasn't much else to do when you're just following someone through a crowd. He eyes were quickly drawn back behind her, checking she'd seen what her brain told her she had.

_Crap._ Two supermodels were following them.

She gave Fang's hand a gentle squeeze, and he looked around at her quizzically. She discretely nodded over her shoulder, trying not to be too obvious about it. Fang caught on and took a casual glance, spotting the supermodels as quickly as Max had.

Tightening his hand on hers Fang instantly started running, ploughing his way through the masses, searching for a side road to run down. Max was keeping up, daring not to look back as they shot between streets and shops, down side roads, jumping over ridiculously small dogs. Finally, they saw something useful.

"In the Mall!" Max shouted over the wind rushing past her ears. Fang had already seen it. A huge glass and white plastic-looking metal structure a few minutes run from where they were. He gave her hand a small squeeze in response, making a bee-line for it through the crowds ahead of them. As they got closer to the building, Max dared a look around.

The supermodels were gone.

Fang didn't look back as he rocketed through the automatic doors of the Mall, pushing and weaving through people. His aim was to get to the back. They _always _had two exits to these please, right? Then they could use it as an escape route.

"Fang!" Max's voice finally made it into his slightly panicked brain and he swung his head round, fearing the worst.

"They're gone," she continued, letting him drag her further into the Mall as he checked for himself. She was right, the supermodels were no where in sight. He let his step slow, feeling his heartbeat at its shocking level for the first time. His legs shook a little, a combination of running and adrenaline.

"I think they were really just supermodels…" Max mumbled softly, and Fang couldn't help but smile at her.

"Better safe than sorry," he said, silently cursing when he realised he'd just uttered a Jeb catchphrase. Max smiled back, an apology he didn't think necessary in her eyes, and probably on her lips as she opened her mouth.

"Wow, kids, did someone throw you in a garbage truck?" The voice was loud and happy. Fang looked up to see a boy…or man, he couldn't quite tell, dressed in a brightly coloured tracksuit and a bright red cap turned half sideways.

Fang assessed the boy as Max gave herself a quick once-over. Her nice new clothes had random rips in them, probably from falling out of that tree or sleeping on a grimy cement step in the under city. The were also stained in a variety of different colours, minus her shirt. That had been protected by her jumper, that was beginning to look very unhappy.

Looking up, she noticed Fang himself didn't look much better off. His jeans had so many holes it was a surprise they didn't just fall apart, being held up only by the belt around his tiny middle. His jumper was really dirty, covered in muck and grime and dirt from the under city. Her estimate was his shirt could probably kill a few people by now.

He was too wrapped up in running his eyes over the brightly coloured guy to really look himself over. The guy's smile remained even under Fang's ice stare, which was always a good sign. He didn't look like an eraser either.

He didn't think even the school could convince them to wear that crap.

"S'up?" Came Fang's very short reply. Max rolled her eyes behind him.

"Yo, dark dude, you think you and your bird would, like, want a makeover?" He still had a smile plastered on his face, a notepad was suddenly whipped out of his pocket and into his hand, a pen in another. "We've a few, like, free slots Man."

"Sorry," Fang waved him off haphazardly. "We don't have any money, even I-"

"Don't cost nuffin'" the lad continued, flicking through his pad a few seconds. "An' we has hair stylin' and clothin' an accessories that'll make you an' your bird here unrecognisable. Even to your parents."

Max was trying not to snigger at the appropriateness of being referred to as a 'bird', even if she was offended by him assuming she was Fang's apparent possession. Fang's eyebrow shot up at the last second.

"Unrecognisable, eh?" he queried, shooting Max a glance.

"Yeah dude, we can do anything' you wants doin', extras will be charged though…" the little clerk continued, pen poised to write their names down.

"We'll do it," Fang finally decided, taking yet another look at Max. She looked kind of…well, he expected to see annoyance, as he'd just decided she was getting a new look. Instead, she looked quite happy with the idea, even if Fang had decided on it without her.

"Duuuuude, you wont regret it! We got stylists ready to do something' drastic with that hair o' yours, Man, it needs loppin' off. An your gal will look good in 'eels an' shorter 'air."

Max immediately held her hands up. "No way! Gotta be practical, and I'm keeping the combat boots." She instructed the boy, who simply nodded away.

"Sure Babe, you can 'ave whatever you want, your style. We'll be there to _guide _you." Fang just shrugged his shoulders. He didn't mind having his hair cut, it was annoying him anyway.

But if they tried to dress him in _anything_ brightly coloured, they wouldn't be able to sit down for a week.


	13. Ruined by the Bell

**K, this one's a short one, because I've been all over the place this weekend and just havent had time to finish this chapter properly, in the way I wanted to, so cut it short. I might make a double length one tomorrow, to make up for the lack of yesterdays update. i was kinda in hospital half the night .-. so yeah... also, the FAXness is lost in this chapter, for reasons only i know, yaaaaaay~ but no worries, i have a purpose**

**Samz: Cheers me dears. Hopefully this isnt an off day too =P**

**Racer: Whoooooo~**

**dallascowboysncountrymusicfan: Duuude, no worries XD comment whenever you can hun, you're supposed to have a life outside of this place =P**

**CRAZY: Glad you liked it =)

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**Part 13**

Max, for the first time in her life, was having her hair blow dried and styled. She was fidgety, having been sat in the same chair for hours while the stylist played with her hair and cut lumps out of it was so tedious to her. Being constantly on the move had its disadvantages.

"It's going to look _fab_ulous darling!" the stylist sang over the hairdryer's whirring. She just wished he'd turn the damn thing off, it was giving her a headache. She hadn't seen Fang in a while now. He'd been stood, smirking at her, while the stylist had played about with her hair for about ten minutes. Probably at the look on Max's face.

Of course, Max couldn't help but erupt into giggles when he was dragged off to be 'redesigned' himself. Now she was smiling, imagining the looks he would give a stylist if they held up anything other than black for him to wear.

"Is it almost done?" she shouted over the hairdryer, afraid he wouldn't hear her.

"Oh yes, Darling, it's almost finished, then we'll get you to our clothing stylist to find something _fab_ulous to go with this hair of yours, that a good plan?" he replied as he turned the hairdryer off and started spraying a fruity-smelling liquid on to her hair. She nodded in response.

Good thing this was free.

A few minutes later and Max's chair was spun around to face a large table with an equally large mirror on it. It had loads of holes and shelves in the woodwork, where varies instruments of hair torture were hanging or had been placed carefully.

"Isnt it _gorgeous?_" The stylist broke into her thoughts, bringing her eyes up to the mirror and her own reflection. Her hair was now just off her shoulders, still curling very slightly around her face as it always had done. Some of the upper parts appeared to be shorted than others, giving it a kind of choppy yet…smart kind of appearance. Extra blonde streaks had been added to her own natural sun streaks, making her hair and eyes look brighter.

Max twisted her head a few times, looking at the sides. It looked…pretty good. Much better than she would have even tried to do with scissors, she had to admit.

"I love it," Max smiled, tilting her head back to let the stylist see it despite the mirror. Inwardly, she cringed at the slight Barbie-Doll-Girliness that crept in at the end of 'love'. Girly squeals were not her thing. This hair better not effect her brain.

The hairdresser whisked the black cloth covering her old clothing off, taking all the hair expertly with it. He promptly dropped this on the floor, a look of dislike on his face at the hair covered garment, and clapped two times. Max raised an eyebrow as a preppy looking teenage girl in a bright pink miniskirt and tight white tank top ran in and grabbed the back of her chair.

"Oh my! That looks gorgeous, doesn't it? Absolutely stunning! It really suits you, yeah! Those highlights really bring out your eyes. We should get you dressed in bark blue to match it, or green, green might clash though. Only your eyes after all, you can still wear green! Duh! But it might loo-" Max started zoning the girl out as she pushed the chair, with Max still on it, towards a part of the room behind a screen.

This was going to be a loooong session.

-

Slightly slumped in his chair, Fang was playing with the holes in his jeans again. Its not like it mattered now, apparently he was getting new ones. He'd had his hair cut already. It hadn't really taken them long to style it once most of the length was gone. They'd cut it shorter, but still slightly long so it hung almost over his eyes at the front. Then they'd run some goopy stuff through it to make it half stand up rather than flat against his head. He liked it, thought it looked pretty good. Though the lack of length was the best part.

It felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He lifted his head up as a stylist came in, pushing a rack of clothes in front of him. Most of them seemed to be blue or white. Fang sighed and pulled himself into a more upright position, folding his arms in his lap. Something told him this might take a while.

The stylist himself looked quite smart. He was dressed as Max's had been; black shirt and trousers and a white tie, but this time a little baggier. His tie was loose around his neck, the top button of his shirt undone beneath it. Half of the shirt wasn't properly tucked into his trousers at the back. Somehow, Fang thought the uniform didn't really show the lad's real personality.

"Alright, Dude, lessie what we can get going here." The stylist stated, walking over to shake Fang's hand. He took the man's hand and shook it once before standing, coming a couple of inches taller than the other guy, who didn't seem to care.

"Now see, you look like a guy who likes…black." Oh good, he was a 'state the obvious' guy. Fang simply nodded, slipping his hands into his jeans and watched the stylist with interest as he wandered back over to the rack After a few seconds, he pulled out a pair of black jeans and folded them over his arm, returning to flipping through things on the rack ahead of him.

_Maybe this wont be so difficult_ Fang thought to himself. He mentally cursed when the guy pulled out a salmon pink t-shirt before grabbing a dark jacket to go with it. _Then again…_

"Here Dude, try these on for size," the stylist held the clothes out to Fang, who looked at them and then back up at the stylist.

"Don't like the shirt," he stated simply, being careful not to pick it up as he relieved the guy of the jeans and jacket.

"C'mon man! It'll look awesome on you! Your girl'll dig it!" The stylist really didn't have a chance in hell here, but of course he was unaware of this fact at the moment. Fang simply shrugged, looking the guy in the eyes.

"Got it in black?" he asked evenly, his face square and unreadable as he slowly undid his belt. Even if he didn't need it anymore, he wanted to keep his belt. It was just a part of him by now.

"Dude, seriously, it'll look _sweet_ on you. Really."

Fang mentally rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long afternoon.

-

It was a good few hours later before Max finally escaped back into the main part of the room. Turning her back to the full length mirror, she critically studied her new appearance. The stylist, once she stopped talking about clashing things with her eyes, finally started making suggestions. After waving away so many mini skirts and sets of high heels and scary tops, she let Max pick out some stuff she liked and went to get 'better colour matches'.

Max had managed to keep her faithful combat boots, poking out from under the hem of her new, dark blue skinny jeans that flared very slightly at the bottom. Her top was closely fitted, but thankfully not as tightly as the stylist's own tank top, and powder blue in colour. It was lightly more low cut than Max was used to, but she couldn't deny it looked good without being to revealing, with that was a fitted jean jacket, again in the same shade of blue as her jeans.

It was a _lot_ of blue, but it worked.

Max admired her reflection, turning a few times to take it all in. It was good, practical, close fitting so less wind resistance. It all worked great. Shame she'd have to cut slits in the back for her wings. Looking about, she looked for any sign of Fang, but there wasn't one. He was still being styled behind one of the screens.

Sighing softly, she flopped down on one of the folding chairs people had been sitting on waiting for their stylists as she looked about for a clock. Not one in sight. That was quite annoying. You couldn't tell in this place what time it was, with all the artificial lighting and stuff. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too long.

Her wish was granted, as he emerged from behind his screen with a very flustered looking stylist pushing his trolley of clothing suggestions. Max smiled. He was still completely clad in black. His black jeans were a bit better fitting than the old ones, that had kept threatening to fall down when he didn't wear a belt. A well fitting black shirt hung past the waistline, hiding whether he still wore his trusty belt or not. Over that was a dark jacket. Max couldn't quite pick out if it was a really dark grey, or black again, but knowing Fang it was probably black. It had deep zip up pockets on each side, of which both of the lower pockets and one of the upper ones seemed to have occupants.

He smirked at her, his beautiful brown eyes no longer hidden by waves of stray hair. Max almost melted on the spot.

"Hey," he said once he got close enough to talk, sliding his hands into his jeans pockets. "You look…blue."

"My stylist liked blue," Max shrugged, before smirking back. "You look like Fang."

"My stylist liked salmon," he commented. "Fang didn't. Guess who won."

Max couldn't help but laugh. "I cant imagine you in pink. It would just look…wrong." Fang smiled, taking a few seconds to take in her new appearance before commenting.

"I liked your hair longer…" Max frowned slightly. It was an obvious annoyance to have long hair, Fang must have noticed that with his own overlong locks before they'd been lopped off by the scissor happy stylist. She opened her mouth to voice her opinion, but was promptly cut off my Fang finishing his sentence:

"…but you look beautiful."

Max's mouth had been half open, ready to protest, now it was still that way but because he caught her off guard. She stared into his eyes, intense and emotional as they looked back into her own. His eyes had always been the doorway into Fang. It was the only way you could truly see what was going on behind his silent shell.

She was aware he was getting closer, closing the gap between them, but her muscles couldn't move. Her mouth stayed uselessly open as he got closer, just inches from her own face, his warm breathing against her ear. His hand came up to gently stroke under her jaw, encouraging her to close her mouth as her eyes stayed cemented to his, her head tilting up and his tilting down to keep each others gaze. She was aware her breathing was heavier, her body shaking slightly as he whispered the words again.

"You look beautiful, Max." he breathed softly, his lips barely an inch from hers. An arms found its way around her waist, pulling her hips closer to his as his other roughened thumb stroked her soft cheek. Max stayed mute. Motionless. Almost every muscle in her body had recovered from the initial shock and now told her to run, to flee. It was Fang, but she wanted to run far away, where she wasn't in this situation. The hairs on the back of her neck stood to attention, her eyes still glued to his as emotions swam before her.

Affection.

Worry.

_Love._

Just seconds before Fang could close the minuscule gap between them, seconds before he could confirm what he'd felt for max all along, seconds before he could truly open up to her, the fire bell rang out.

Instead of closing the gap, Fang held her gaze just a little bit longer, hoping to see similar emotions to his own on her face. Instead, he saw confusion and panic. Typical Max reactions. Inwardly, his heart fell. Maybe she _had_ been only joking.

Slipping his hand from around her waist and into her hand, he motioned towards the back door with his head. Panicked shoppers where trying to squeeze out of the doors and into the parking lot, afraid of the fire that might be in the building. Max smiled that soft, sweet smile he loved, but his heart didn't skip a beat like usual. He gave her hand a little squeeze and lead her through the masses, out the doors and back into fresh air.

They took flight and soured into the sky, the pressing of the present he'd bought her in his breast pocket a constant reminder of his newfound doubt.


	14. FAXCoated Violence

**Alrighty, this ones up early! =D Doubt i get a prize for that, but its up, so ner. Now, this ones average sized, a little short, but generally the right length. I might make the next one a double update, as all of it kinda flows into itself. End of this series is getting kinda close...and i think i'mma do a sequel after this, maybe...Anyway. MAJOR FAXness in this one people, but the title of this chapter says it all really, lol.**

**volleyballgurl4HIM: Whoo, another reviewer =D I love you guys sometimes, ya know? Im not good at smart remarks, but i tried...hope its ok lol. Sounds interesting, your weekend =P I'm never gunna object to people telling me what they're up to, i put it in my ANs after all. Hope you have fun ^^ and no worries.**

**happyasusual4: S'ok, Fang feels better by the end of this one...and worse, but better =D  


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**Part 14**

They'd barely spoken a word all evening, the only communication between the bird kids being head nods or shakes and shoulder shrugs. Fang had never been a big talker anyway, but lately he'd opened up a little. Now here he was, sat close to a camp fire and staring into to, having reverted back into the silent, unspeaking Fang he used to be.

Max was slightly confused. He'd been fine until earlier that day, at the store, when he'd lent in _so_ close. She'd been startled, really not expecting any of what had happened after they got their new clothes. Calling her beautiful. Pulling her close. Leaning in for a kiss…

Max curled up a little tighter. She was on her side on a beach somewhere off the coast, near the city. They'd bought some groceries using Max's card and then flown about looking for somewhere secluded to hide out for a few days. This beach was almost deserted when they flew over it, and it was certainly secluded from the rest of its inhabitants. Exchanging a nod in agreement, the pair had landed for the night.

Fang had taken first shift. It was the only thing he'd said all evening, and Max didn't have the morale to argue. So here she was a few hours later, supposed to be sleeping, but instead staring at Fang's back wondering what the hell had happened.

She wasn't even sure what she wanted anymore. Since the Flock had been taken, it had been just her and Fang, through thick and thin. Of course, it hadn't been long since they left the damned place known as the school, but she felt closer to her right wing man than ever before. Did she _want_ to be closer to him than just an adviser? Its not like she had any motherly duties to take care of anymore, Fang didn't need babying any more than she did.

Did she want to stick a title on him? Boyfriend…it seemed such a definite word to her, like fiancée or marriage would to a normal person. It meant she agreed she liked him too. And she really wasn't sure anymore.

She remembered the small smile he'd worn in the trees, when she said he might keep that title. He wanted it. He wanted _her_. So what was holding her back?

That question was a toughie.

She noticed Fang turn to look at her, as discretely as he usually did, and snapped her eyes shut, pretending to be asleep.

Fang himself was anything but focused on his surroundings. Staring into the fire, he kept seeing the look of confusion and panic on Max's face when he went to kiss her dance before him. He'd let it run through his thoughts a few more times before this, but he couldn't quite come to a conclusion. He didn't want to believe she was playing with him. He was pretty sure she wouldn't, it wasn't very 'Max', but the doubt still niggled at his brain.

Was the confusion because she didn't think this is where they were leading, or because she seriously hadn't seen it coming? He peeked over his shoulder to look at her and saw her eyes quickly close, her breathing slow to a sleeping pace. He sighed, dropping his head into his hands and rubbing his temples, silently wishing her had Angel's mind reading abilities.

She was awake, so she was thinking about something. Probably the same thing as him. He knew all too well neither of them would actually bring up the point. He wasn't one for normal conversations, let alone difficult ones, and Max liked to avoid the issue than confront it.

Unless it was a life/ death thing. Then she kicked it _really_ hard.

Images of her danced before his now closed eyes. Her smile, her eyes, the way she kicked an eraser in the chest so hard it stumbled. She was _amazing_. He wanted to be the one allowed to hold her. To kiss her. To try and protect her, even if she didn't need it or want it.

He wanted to be her boyfriend, her to be his girlfriend. He** loved** her.

The problem was how to let her know.

-

Fang had been exhausted, not that he'd let his face show it when he'd taken the first watch. It was almost inevitable her would fall asleep before he was meant to, leaving the camp unwatched and unguarded as he and Max both slept peacefully.

Max was woken by the sound of a bush moving, like a branch had got caught on someone and swung back. Her eyes sprang open, and she pushed herself up off the floor to look around. Half way there, a large boot met with her head, kicking it back to the ground. Before she could react the same boot pressed itself on her windpipe, holding her helplessly on the floor. In the half light of the morning, her attacker's features were outlines in a sickly orange-red glow.

Max growled, her arms reaching up to try and pull his boot from her neck. _Ari_.

"Look who decided to come to the beach," Ari sneered, pressing his boot a little tighter on her wind pipe. Max's growl became a strangled cough as she tried to pull his boot from her neck. He was too heavy. All Max could do was squirm helplessly, soundlessly, hoping Fang wasn't still asleep. Ari lent a little closer, his fowl breath filling Max's nostrils. She wanted to barf.

"Now now Max, no need to squirm," he tried to coo, his scratchy morphed eraser voice completely cancelling any soothing effect it may have had. Max tilted her head as much as his boot would allow as a claw came down to stroke her face. "_My_ Max. Its almost wonderful to finally see you powerless." He laughed, but Max shook with anger at those words. She'd show him how freakin' _powerless_ she was when he had to lift his boot.

Luckily for Max, he was too busy gloating to pay attention to his surroundings. Which means he didn't see the mass of Fang running at him full throttle. Until it spoke.

"Get the hell _off_ of her!" Fang yelled, rugby tackling Ari right in the side. The force knocked him off his feet, and the two went rolling a couple of feet away. Max crawled onto all fours, coughing and gasping. Her lungs burned for fresh air Ari's boot had been depriving her of. Glancing up, she saw both of them scrabbling with other another. Ari outweighed Fang with ease, but that was without factoring in Fang's anger.

When he was angry, he came down like a ton of bricks.

Before Max could fully recover, eraser hands grabbed her roughly and yanked her to her feet, securing her arm behind her as her vision adjusted to the sudden disturbance. Focusing, she could see Fang and Ari wrapped up in a massive fight. Kicks and punches flew left, right and centre. Max was the most nimble of the flock, but Fang was still more flexible and speedy than a clunky eraser mitt. He was dodging most of the blows Ari threw at him, getting a light cuff here and there before pounding on Ari with a stint of his own kicks and punches.

Then it happened. Ari hit Fang at full force under the jaw, sending him flying up and backwards a few feet. He landed crumpled, but was quickly pulling himself to his feet as the eraser advanced on him. Fang blinked a few times, trying to refocus his now slightly bleary brain. He dodged another punch and delivered a roundhouse kick to Ari's chest as hard as he could.

Ari barely flinched before clapping Fang on the side of his face, sending him flying once more.

Fang remained in a heap on the floor. Max's cries were muffled by a hairy eraser paw as Ari advanced on the motionless form in front of him. In a last bid to win over the battle, Fang swung a leg up and kicked Ari in the face. Blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth, staining his fur a dark red. With not enough time to get to his feet, Fang got the full blow of Ari's next kick, jerking his face and his whole body to the left. He rolled a few more seet and stopped. Ari advanced on him again, picking up his lifeless form by the head.

Max's screams became louder and more terrified behind the paw as Ari began to smack Fang's head against a rock, laughing as he did so. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes, her body shook in anger and desperation as she struggled with the erasers holding her arms. They twisted them tighter behind her back until tears finally seeped down her face.

All she could do was watch.

Finally, Ari stopped smacking his head against the rock and dropped Fang's unmoving body back to the floor, a happy smile on his face. Max saw red. He would be dead if she wasn't being held so tightly. A movement off to her right caught her eye and she turned her head, eraser mitt and all, to see what it was. She was almost sick.

_Jeb._

He walked over calmly, his face emotionless as he knelt in front of her, nodding at an eraser to remove his grubby paw from her mouth. She didn't hesitate to let him know how she felt about him, spitting disgustedly at his face. He jerked back slightly, the substance aimed for his eye instead hitting his cheek. He remained silent as he pulled a tissue from his pocket and wiped Max's present away. He then leant in a little bit closer, his non expressive eyes seemingly searching her own for something. He sighed when he didn't see it.

"Do you not understand this yet Max?" he asked, a hint of annoyance in his even tone. "Everything's a test. A game. You cant afford to get sidetracked by non important issues if you want to complete your mission."

"I don't _want_ to play your sick and twisted games!" Max shouted, struggling against the erasers holding her steady. The only barrier between her and breaking Jeb's neck. He shook his head slowly, disappointed.

"You're a smart girl Max, I would have thought you'd have figured this out by now." He sighed, holding her gaze. "Its not about you. You have to save the world, Maximum. You need to save the world."

"You just let Ari kick the life out of my world," her voice came as a harsh whisper. Warm tears trickled down her cheeks. "Why should I save yours?"

Jeb simply stood again, motioning for the erasers to release her arms. He looked at her solemnly. "I don't want to upset you Max. Everything has its reasons and meanings. Everything must be ready for you save the world."

It took all of her willpower not to sock him in the stomach right there. She could have him on the ground with his neck broken before an eraser could even grab an arm. But she didn't. His eyes looked sincere, soft, caring. What was he getting at?

"I'm preparing you Max," he continued after a few moments pause. "Getting you ready. When the time comes, you cant afford to be distracted. But you cannot do it alone." He looked over at Fang, who was still motionless on the sand where Ari had left him, crumpled unnaturally. Fresh tears stung Max's eyes just from looking at him.

"Sacrafices must be made." Max looked back at Jeb to see him walk away, flanked by his eraser guards and his happy looking son trailing behind him. Max couldn't bring herself to move until he was out of sight, her body shaking with fear and anger. Once she was sure he was gone, her attention immediately jumped back to Fang, wasting no time in sprinting over to him and dropping beside his seemingly lifeless form.

She checked his neck wasn't broken, then for a pulse. There was a definite pulse, still strong despite the state he was in. All of his clothes had been almost shredded, small amounts of blood staining the shreds as cuts oozed his life fluid away. His face was bruised and swollen in places, deep cuts in his cheek dripping blood onto the sand beneath him. A small amount of blood tricked from his mouth. Max knelt over him, gently yet frantically stroking his cheeks, down his neck, repeating the action again and again.

"Please wake up," she whispered to his battered face, stroking his olive cheeks with her thumbs. "Please…"

He didn't move. Max could feel panic setting in. Her body was shaking, her breathing getting heavier as she stroked his cheeks a little faster, a little firmer. She wiped stray pieces of hair off his sweat coated brow before returning to stroking his cheek, looking over him for a more fatal wound. None to be seen.

"You cant die on me Fang," Desperation was creeping into her voice as she held his face in her hands. Tears streamed down her face as she resisted slapping him, trying to bring him out of it "You cant die!" Her body shook slightly as more tears flowed. Leaning closer to him, her strokes steadily became softer before she cupped his cheeks in her hands, her lips now barely an inch away from his own.

"I need you…" she whispered gently, closing her eyes as she leaned in, pressing her lips softly against his own. She tasted blood, but she didn't care. She continued to kiss him, willing him to kiss back as tears continued to fall down her cheeks.

After a few seconds, a tear dripped from her face into a cut on Fang's cheek, the salt stinging the wound. He drew in a lungful of air sharply, his chest touching Max's as she bent over him, his senses slowly coming back as the pain rudely awakened him. He hurt like hell, everything ached, and he was aware of someone leaning over him, their lips pressed to his own. He didn't need to open his eyes to figure out what was going on. Shakily, he lifted a hand and rested it on the back of her head, finally doing what Max was willing him to.

He kissed back.

Max felt him kiss back, and relief flooded through her. She kissed him with a little more fire, fresh tears of job slipping down her face as his hand tangled into her hair. After a little longer, minutes that felt like seconds, Max pulled away, letting him breathe. Fang immediately tilted the top half of his body, spitting a shot of blood onto the sand beside him Max continued to strokes his face as he laid like that for a few seconds, resting his pounding head. Finally, he looked back at her, a small smile gracing his bruised face.

"I should almost die _a lot_ more often," he mumbled, closing his eyes against the pain in his head. Max laughed through her tears, wiping them away using her jumper sleeve before gently stroking his swelling jaw. He squeezed his eyes up slightly, trying not to groan, but Max already gathered it hurt.

"Painful way to get kisses…" she whispered softly, stroking the small length of his cheek that wasn't swollen or bruised. "It would be easier to ask…"

Fang opened his eyes slowly, trying to ignore the pounding in his head. "I can get kisses if I ask..?" he queried softly, lightly stroking the back of her head as a smile found its way onto Max's face.

"Of course," she whispered as she lent a little closer to him, softly kissing his his lips once more. Pulling away, she planted a gentle kiss on his forehead before looking back into his eyes.

"What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didnt kiss you?"


	15. Aftermath and an Idea

**Ok, this is an uber early one because im gunna be out/ busy/ entertaining by the time im supposed to be posting this...actually, as arguing to that list too, as dad seems to have told mum i've sat around doing nothing all day, he's bound to bring it up later.**

**Anywho, enough of my lightning rod for drama i call my life. This part has been reread just twice, lol, so it might be a bit squiggy in some places, lack flow and things ^^; sorry about that dudes and dudettes, but time ran away from me

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**SeekDreandAndFindHope: If i told you, you might stop reading =P So s'secret.**

**happyasusual4: =D yay smiles! Glad i maded you smile with teh fluffehness.**

**dallascowboysncountrymusicfan: LOL! No prob, an i unno, not everyone likes this story =P maybe she'll like it. Glad you found it good anyway, took a lot of re reading.**

**CRAZY: *hands a Jeb stabbing knife* Go..well, crazy =D

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**Part 15**

Max crawled off him and sat beside him instead, carefully lifting his head and torso into her arms and over her lap. Fang groaned at the movement as every muscle in his body complained. Max lent his thumping head into her elbow, holding him around his shoulders with that hand and gently brushing the sand out of his hair with the other.

Fang was repressing the urge to whine. He hurt so badly. It felt like even his bones were hurting, aching as Max wiped the blood and sweat off his face with her jacket sleeve. He turned his head into her elbow, closing his eyes as his thoughts fuzzed over. His brain just wanted to sleep.

"Hey," Max interrupted his attempt at drifting into the land of nod. "No sleeping, Fang." She lifted him into a more up-right position, resting his head against her shoulder, one arm around his middle the other stroking the back of his head. He opened his eyes blearily, blinking back the dizziness clouding his brain.

"Sleepy…" he mumbled, nuzzling back into her shoulder. Max jostled him awake. It would probably make his head worse, but she needed to keep him awake. They'd had this once before, when she and Fang had been training under Jeb's watch. Fang had managed to whack her head hard into a brick wall. Jeb made Fang sit up with her all night, keeping her awake until she no longer felt sick or dizzy, just tired. He'd complained at first, until he was told she might never wake up if she fell asleep.

After a few hours of keeping his wavering attention with random hand gestures and silly questions, her anxiety was getting stronger by the second. They'd found them here once, there was nothing stopping Jeb and Ari coming back to finish the job. She encouraged Fang to his feet, holding him upright as he tested out his balance and his wings.

They hadn't been damaged, but his balance was off.

Max made him take off first, following so soon after she caught up with him within seconds. Flying above him, she lowered herself until her front was touching his back, syncing her wings with his as she wrapped her arms around his middle. If he fell from the sky, she wouldn't be able to stop it. That idea alone scared her. But this way he wasn't working as hard as he might have been on his own, lessening the chance of him falling out of the sky.

Slowly, they made their way back to the mainland.

Landing on a block of flats on the city outskirts, the pair used the fire escape to make it back to the main road, their wings tucked tightly to their back as they wormed their way through the crowds, deeper into the city. Max was leaning the way, pulling Fang at a reasonable pace through the masses, her hand tightly wrapped around his.

He was letting himself be dragged through the claustrophobic crowds of the big city. He had to admit, the lights and sounds of the city were good at keeping you awake. He kept jumping his attention from lights to studying peoples faces, putting all of his possible energy into looking for erasers and doing three-sixties. Something Max seemed to be neglecting.

It took most of the day for Max to find the tube station they needed. She stopped on the side of the road to get some bagels from one of the street vendors, leaving Fang on a bench nearby while she did so. Plonking down next to him, she held out a paper bag. Fang took it from her and sniffed it tentatively. If he hadn't felt off, it would have made him drool. Now, it just turned his stomach inside out. Trying to suppress a gag, he held the bag out to Max.

"You have it," he mumbled, not looking at her. Max looked as she chewed her own bagel. He was staring at the floor as he held the bag out to her, swallowing hard, looking fairly uncomfortable. She took it from him and lent it against the seat.

"Save it for later," she commented after swallowing her last bite, screwing the bag up and dropping it on the floor. "You might feel hungry later." Fang nodded very slightly, dropping his head into his hands and slowly rubbing his temples.

"How do you feel?" She asked after a few seconds, moving the bagged bagel to shuffle up close and slowly rub the between his wings.

"Sick," he answered. He still kept swallowing frequently, trying to ward off the sickness in his throat. "Little fuzzy, not as bad as earlier."

"Few more hours," she soothed softly, slowly stroking the length of his back. Fang groaned slightly, rubbing his face with his hands. "Then you can sleep. You'll feel better after some sleep."

Fang sat up and sighed, flopping backwards on the bench. With no headrest for his throbbing brain, he groaned slightly and slid down to lean into Max's shoulder. Her arm slid from his back and held him to her around his middle as Max lent her cheek very softly on his head. Occasionally, she jostled her shoulder to keep him from drifting off.

"We cant sleep here," he mumbled after being jostled for the tenth time. It was a good observation, and Max hadn't intended on it in the slightest.

"We're gunna stay in the subway tunnels again," she replied softly, slowly stroking his arm. She felt Fang tense up under her hand.

"I don't like that place…"

"I know, Fang…" she kissed his head, resting her cheek back against it afterward. "But it's the only place they haven't found us yet. We need to be somewhere safe if you're going to be completely out of it all night…"

"S'not safe…" his voice was slightly slurred, prompting Max to nudge him yet again.

"Its safe enough," she replied softly. "Its not like I cant look after myself…"

Silence followed. Fang couldn't deny she was perfectly capable of fighting off anyone who tried to hurt either her or him. He didn't like it. Being dependent on someone else for protection. He could see how much Max hated it. At the same time, he couldn't deny he needed it right now. Sighing, he simply nodded an ok.

He didn't have the energy to argue it further.

-

After darkness fell the bird couple trudged down into the underground station, desperately trying to ignore the feeling of being closed in. Fang was getting too tired to even notice _anything_ other than comfy places to sleep. He almost walked straight into the turnstile until max yanked him backwards and reminded him to vault it.

Max dropped down onto the track first, positioning herself between where Fang would drop own and the deadly third rail. He stumbled a little when he fell, disorientation still evident, but he didn't fall into the bird-kid blockade in front of him. Taking his hand, she lead him slowly through the dark tunnels, hoping she was going the right way.

Finally, they made it to the under city without becoming hybrid popcorn.

They got a lot of curious glances as they made their way towards the cement shelves where people slept. A few of the people Max recognised, especially the kid with his computer. He looked a little dirtier than last time, and glared at her over the top of his screen as they found an empty space on the shelf.

With less ease than Fang had, she helped him up onto the concrete shelf. Fang instantly crawled into the corner and curled up as Max had against the wall, closing his eyes and letting out a soft sigh. His head was still pumping, he still ached. He didn't feel as dizzy or fuzzy as before, just plain tired. It wasn't long before he drifted into a deep, soundless sleep.

Max watched him curl up and close his eyes. His jaw relaxed almost instantly and his breathing settled, reassuring Max he was finally getting the sleep he so desperately needed. Happy he'd been kept awake long enough not to slip into an eternal sleep, Max wandered a little into the crowds of people filling the tunnels, seeing if any of them had food or anything they might need.

Pulling a few dollars from her pocket, she relieved a baby holding woman of the newspaper she was about to burn. Checking the date, Max smiled. It was today's date. Exactly what she was after. All of the others were very reluctant to give her any of the resources they'd collected, including pillows and blankets, even when she offered a reasonable sum of money. Sighing, she pulled off her jacket as she headed back towards the shelf she left Fang on.

It wouldn't keep him very warm, but it would have to do.

Pulling herself up onto the shelf, Max settled herself against the wall and took a glance at Fang. His face was soft and relaxed, his legs now stretched out and hanging over the edge of the shelf. His arms were folded into his lap as he lent against the cold cement wall as he breathed evenly. Max let a small smile play on her lips. It was good to see him relaxed.

Carefully, she draped her jacket over his arms before crossing her legs on the ledge and opening the paper across her lap. In just over twenty minutes, she'd read it from cover to cover and was leaning back against the wall with her eyes closed. Today had been a total bust. Her hand went up to massage her neck as the events of this morning ran through her mind.

_Damn Ari…_ she thought, his twisted, morphed eraser face making her cringe, frowning as the state he'd left Fang in sending a fresh shudder of anger through her veins. Thinking of Jeb, cool and calm when one of the kids he'd once protected lay unconscious just feet from him.

He made her sick. She never wanted to see him again.

However bad the events had been, she couldn't help the small smile that crossed her lips. She'd done what all her instincts tried to get her to run away from, what she'd always wished he'd go ahead and do, before she could run and hide. She'd _kissed Fang_. And she'd _liked_ it.

For most of the night, Max slipped in and out of sleep. She couldn't help the need to sleep after the events of today, but the noises from the shuffling of others in the tunnel always dragged her from her slumber, invoking a quick three-sixty before she'd fall back into light sleep once more.

One time, opening her eyes, she saw a guy staring at her and Fang from across the corridor. She cocked her head at him, wondering what he was staring at. He gave a big friendly smile and beckoned her down to follow him, pointing down a smaller corridor. The hairs on her neck stood up on end and Max quickly shook her head in rejection. The man frowned, an angry glare settled on his face. Max returned the glare, trying to imitate Fang's icy stare as well as her expressive face would allow. After a few more moments, the man huffed and wandered towards a group of grubby looking teens as Max sighed in relief. Now she wasnt tured, she could see why Fang hated this place so much.

Next to her, Fang stirred. Taking a glance at him, Max saw his fist clench and unclench as his features twitched, a frown across his face. Folding her legs to the side and leaning towards him, she gently stroked his cheek with her finger tips. He jerked away at first, his breathing coming harshly, like he was in pain, but soon calmed down, dozing peacefully against the wall once more.

She knew how he felt, with nightmares. Not that he usually dreamed.

Resting her head against the wall, she watched him sleeping as his calm face returned. Reaching out, she stroked his face just once more. A smile spread across her face as a small, perfect one graced his own. Then she pulled back, opening the newspaper once more on her lap to the page she wanted him to read. It wouldn't be long before he woke up, and he would be interested in it.

Suddenly, her nose was greeted with a particularly nasty smell. Trying not to retch, she held her nose, looking around for the cause. She couldn't see anything at all. It smelt like one of Gazzy's 'gifts'. The child's digestive system had always been funky, and they were a regular occurrence. If he'd actually been there, she'd have blamed him. This time, she failed to find a cause.

"It's the sewers," Max looked round to find the owner of the voice. He was an old, frail looking man sat on the shelf nearby. He had a dirty blanket pressed tight over his nose and mouth, muffling his voice a little. "The smell creeps in sometimes. It'll fade in a little bit, my dear."

Max smiled and nodded a thank you, looking back to see if the smell had effected Fang. He was still sleeping like a rock. Typical. You want him to wake up, so he doesn't.

_Stupid sewers…_ Max thought to herself, flopping back against the wall, her hand firmly over her mouth and nose. _If there wasn't so much waste from every single building in the ci-_ her thought trail stopped as an idea hit her. _**Every single building**__. There had to be toilets in the Institute. Which meant the sewer system had to reach there too…_

_**Bingo, Max**_. She almost jumped as the voice made another appearance. Truth be told, she'd forgotten it was there.

_Don't do that!_ She shouted in her head. _Give me some warning or something…but please not a headache… _Typically, it didn't reply, and Max sighed. She couldn't wait to see how it would warn her next time…

-

After that little brainwave, there wasn't much else Max could do but wait for Fang to wake up. He slept way into the day, barely moving from his position against the wall. Finally, almost eleven in the morning, Fang finally stirred. His eyes opened blearily at first, but soon he was as awake and alert as usual, looking around him. Finally his attention fell on Max, sat close to him, reading something in the newspaper balanced on her crossed legs. Absently, she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and he smiled.

She still looked beautiful.

"Hey," he mumbled, shuffling up a little closer to her and leaning his chin on her shoulder. She turned her head to look at him, smiling at his bright, alert eyes.

"You look better," she whispered, resting her hands on the paper in her lap. He leant forwards and pecked her lips.

"Much," he replied, resting his head back on her shoulder. "Feels like nothing ever happened."

"Your clothes tell a different story."

Max smiled as he pulled himself away from her to examine his clothes. She had a point. His jacket seemed to have avoided any real damage, as it was open while he was having his spat with Ari. His shirt and trousers told a different story, all slashed and broken, stained very slightly around each cut with his blood. Most of the gashes were superficial, having healed to just scabs that could fall off very soon. A few others were stinging, but they would meet the same fate within the next few days.

"So much for a new wardrobe," he commented, examining the extent of the damage to his shirt alone by pulling it out. "Looks like we need to visit a clothes shop again…"

"We have all day," Max commented. "As long as we get back and have a nap before nightfall…" Fang looked up at her, his eyebrow raised. "I have an idea on how to get into the Institute, if you're up to it…"

"As I'll ever be," Fang answered, shuffling back up against her. "What are you reading? Did you get the idea from there?"

"No," Max shook her head, but pointed to a small section of the newspaper on the right hand page. "Looks like we're off the scope for the bird watch though."

Fang whisked the paper from her lap and held it up to read it. The small, picture-less passage explained how the search for the bird children had been called off, placed by policemen as an elaborate hoax. They were hunting down the general public members behind it. The taker of the photograph and half of those who gave eye witness testimonies were being questioned by police, a few had already been cautioned.

"Can't argue with that," he stated, folding the paper up on his lap. He smiled at her, and Max smiled back. She found his smile seriously contagious. Their silence was disrupted seconds later by Fang's rumbling stomach, at which he turned a very slight shade of pink.

"Uhh…you kept that bagel, right..?" Max couldn't help but smirk as she held the still wrapped bagel out to him.

"I did almost trade it for a blanket," she commented as he unwrapped it and sunk his teeth into the bread. "But my jacket seemed to do just fine." Fang blinked, looking down and realising she wasn't wearing her jacket, and it wasn't on his lap. Searched around him, he finally found it squished behind him and pulled it out, holding it out to her with his unoccupied hand. Max took it gratefully and slipped it back onto her shoulders.

By the time she was done, Fang had devoured the whole bagel and was sucking spread off his fingers.

"Just a little hungry?" Max laughed as she straightened her jacket, glad to see he was back to normal.

"Little," Fang muttered through the finger in his mouth. "Though, I might need another three of those…"


	16. Finalising Plans

**Ok, I havent updated in a while, which is an opps on my part. Been busy, visiting friends down from uni and things. Aaaand I have a job nao, so thats gunna start eating my time soon, so updates may be a couple of days between from next week on. Oh, and Im away this sunday and monday, so might not be one then either.**

**This update is one and a half updates squished together, because it hought it flowed better that way. So put your reading caps on, its looooong~**

**Also, the kiss in this is my first real attempt at describing one, so please don't shoot me XD  
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**dallascowboysncountrymusicfan: yeah, it kinda struck me (no pun intended, sorry Fang!) as odd he didnt include it, so i did instead =P**

**CRAZY: he's the token creepy dude! Yaaaaay!**

**Dreams: Thanks for commenting =D

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**Part 16**

Turns out Fang was hungrier than he gave himself credit for. When they'd fought their way out of the subway tunnels and back into the slightly fresher air of the city, their sights were set on an immediate breakfast hunt. In total, he managed to work his way through three bagels, a stack of cinnamon waffles, two breakfast buns (consisting of bacon, a sausage and a fried egg in a toasted muffin) and a chocolate ice cream.

_Making up for yesterday…_ Max thought to herself, counting how much money they actually had left. It wasn't much. After getting Fang's newest set of black clothes it wouldn't even be enough to buy them lunch. Sighing, Max pocketed the money.

They'd have to find a cash machine.

As Fang munched his way through his ice cream cone, Max was looking about her, watching the world go past. More importantly, she was thinking through the plan for the following evening. They'd need a way into the sewers for a start, and preferably an easy exit too once they had what they needed. If the voice ever got round to telling her _why_ they were going there in the first place.

"Max?" She looked round as Fang said her name. He had half the wafer cone left with a pool of melted ice cream filling it, some of it running down his hand. She held back a smirk at the amount he'd managed to get around his mouth.

"Mm..?"

"Perhaps we should go back to the library, you know, see if any of the sewer plans for this place are on there…" he seemed to be more thinking aloud than anything else before he dived back into his ice cream, finishing what was left in one mouthful and began to lick it off his hand.

"Good idea," Max smiled. "After we get you some new clothes…and get you washed up…"

Fang blinked and checked his hand for any melted ice cream he missed. Then he wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and stared accusingly at the brown residue now there, like it swore at him or something. Finally, he shrugged and wiped it on his jeans before looking back at her.

"Guess some people would stare," he agreed, pulling out his shirt to examine the numerous holes in the fabric, then letting it ping back against him as he examined his jeans. He looked a complete state. Shreds of fabric were missing from loads of random places in both garments, and looking closely revealed they were outlined in dried blood. The cuts themselves had all but healed, just a few scabs remaining.

"We also need an excuse for that," Max stated, waving her hand in general at his face. Fang raised an eyebrow.

"Think people will ask?" He replied, tracing a hand over the healing cuts and bruises on his face. "I mean, most people don't _want_ to ask."

"You never know," Max shrugged, getting to her feet and holding a hand out for his. "Just think of one while we walk, ok? I saw a clothes shop not far from here, we can go there then head for the library."

He smiled up at her, that gorgeous Max-melting smile, and took her hand as he stood himself. They set of down the street, Max slightly leading the way though they walked hand in hand, side by side. The shops were just throwing up their shutters, ready for a new days trading. Minus the joggers and businessmen, the streets were almost empty.

Max had been enjoying the peace and quiet until they ducked into a men's clothing store. Mentally, she blocked out the music as let go of Fang's hand, who instantly faded into the clothing racks. Wandering over to the shoes section, she was wondering if he'd need new shoes anytime soon. Its not like they usually wore them out very fast, with all the flying, but they had been doing a lot of walking recently. Suddenly, she was aware the back of her neck had started to prickle, the hairs standing on end. Spinning on the spot, she was met with Fang, a few more items of clothing than just a shirt and trousers flung over his arm and his jacket draped over his shoulder. With his free hand, he pulled the jacket down and held it out to Max, who took it, raising an eyebrow.

"The sizes are weird in here," he explained, tilting his garment-laden arm to make a point. "Ever heard of a size 0?"

"Is that like, for dead people..?" she asked, inwardly shuddering. Fang simply shrugged, motioning to the clothing over his arm.

"Imma try these on for size. You'll be alright for a few more minutes?"

Max rolled her eyes. "Its not like I'm going to die from being in the shop too long Fang." He smirked slightly, and she returned it with a sweet smile before waving him off, plonking herself down on the seats by the shoes. "I'll be fine, just go try them on already."

Fang disappeared off towards the fitting rooms as Max let out a soft sigh. They had to pick the shop with the awkward sizing clothes. Inwardly, she wished they had a 'Mutant-Bird-Kid' size. Maybe that's what a size 0 was in disguise, it looked like it would fit Fang. Being the twig that he was.

She folded his jacket over her arms, then unfolded it, curious. Three of his pockets had a distinct bulge, the two lower ones and one of the breast pockets. Considering none of those could be from money, as she'd commandeered it all just a few days go, she could only place what two of the bulges were. She examined it, running her fingers over the shapes inside the closed pockets. The first was certainly the hairbrush and the second she called as the scissors because of their shape.

Tentatively, she ran her fingers over the bulge in his breast pocket. She couldn't really place what it was. Some of it was thin, like string, but hard like metal, the rest was solid, bigger and kind of round. Max frowned and went to open the pocket to check it out, but something stopped her. A little niggling at the back of her head told her not to peek, to leave it alone. There was probably a good reason he hadn't mentioned it to her.

It might be embarrassing, for one.

If it was personal, she'd have to wait til Fang was comfortable revealing it. She hovered over the zip for a few seconds, then folded the jacket back up. She didn't want to lose the last member of her flock's, or even her boyfriend's, trust over something silly like that.

It was a couple of seconds after she refolded the jacket that Fang reappeared, now carrying just one of each garment over his arm. His hair looked tussled and out of place, and the rips in his shirt seemed to be bigger from where he'd pulled it on and off.

"Size 0," Fang stated, holding his arm up to gesture to the clothes there. "They fit perfectly."

Max stood and slipped her hand into her back pocket, pulling out what was left of their bundle of notes as she walked towards him. "How much do they cost..?"

"Together…about $40..." Max's jaw almost hit the ground. It cost half of that to clothe them both in the first store they'd visited. Shame that was a good few cities back.

"Jeebus…" she muttered, counting out the money they had left. "That's basically all we have on us…we're going to need to find another cash machine…"

"S'ok," Fang shrugged as he took the money from her outstretched hand. "It's a city, there'll be loads of the things on every other corner." Max pulled a face, and was rewarded with his ever so sweet smile.

"You remember where the Library is?" she queried as he checked the amount of money she'd given him.

"Mhm," he replied, turning to go to the register. "Two minutes then a quick clothing change in an alley or something and we're there."

-

Max was getting an incredible sense of déjà vu as she stared at the Google search engine homepage in the Library. It was heightened further when she took a peek at Fang and saw him slouched slightly in his chair, eyes glued to the screen, his only movement being to more or click the mouse. She sighed and turned to glare at her empty search bar.

"Find anything?" His voice pulled her attention back to Fang. He was still doing exactly the same as before, not even turned to look at her.

_He's so never getting a computer…_ Max thought to herself. "Nope. Run out of words to search. Maybe sewer plans aren't available on the internet…"

"Dunno," Sometimes, Max wanted to slap him. "But I found something…interesting…"

Max raised an eyebrow. "What kind of interesting?"

"Come see," Fang slid his chair a little to the side, leaving enough room for Max to scoot her own in front of his computer screen. She pulled her computer chair over to his screen and scanned the page curiously, leaning in slightly to check her eyes weren't deceiving her.

"Wow…" she whispered, scrolling down the page with the mouse.

"Yeah, wow." Fang added, slipping his arm under hers and taking back control of the mouse. "This whole site is dedicated to finding _us._ They have forums to document sightings and people are posting fuzzy photos, supposedly of us in the sky or about New York. Someone in Mexico even thought they saw us…"

"Mexico?" Max queried, not taking her eyes off the screen. Fang nodded, flipping to another tab showing a map of the world with two pin pricks on it.

"This, apparently, is America, like Jeb said it was called." Fang said, gesturing to the left side of the map with his hand, then moving it to point at the upper most point, on the east coast. "That's New York, where we are. And this…" He slid his finger down to the dot much further down the map, "…is Mexico".

"Wow, America is _big_," Max added, her eyes widening in surprise. "To think we thought it was a tiny island or something…"

"Yeah, but this site is really cool," Fang continued, flipping back to the other tab and clicking a few links. "They're trying to find us, to find out who we are and why we're like we are. They could blow the School way out if enough people believed."

"Whoa." Max turned back to look at him. "You cant be serious. Normal, tiny, insignificant people couldn't take out the school. They're probably part of the government or something, it would just get covered up again and we'd be put in a zoo as freaks of nature."

Fang frowned. "How do you know? They could actually _care_, Max. The first people to take an interest other than the school or, according to you, government officials. For once, we're not entirely isolated from the whole world."

"You seriously believe they can help?" He could pick up the skeptic tone in her voice, and it bugged him a little. He never questioned her calls, even if they did seem stupid. Only if they were stupid enough to get herself killed, like that incident with Ella. Inwardly, he sighed.

She was just too stubborn. He loved her for it, but it was _so_ frustrating.

"I think it's good to get the word out," he finally answered, his face set as cool as ever. He turned his head before Max could get a good look at his eyes, the only thing that ever gave his feeling away. She was way too good at reading them nowadays. Max looked at the side of his head for a few seconds, then back at the computer screen.

"Hey," she commented, pointing to the top left side of the screen. "It says you're logged in, Fang2. You _joined_?"

"Duh." He added, scrolling down a list of comments in a topic named _'How many are there???'_. "I also posted. Here." he clicked the mouse and scrolled down a little further in the same topic before halting it about half way.

Max really couldn't think of what to say. She really couldn't. Instead, she just studied Fang's post in silence.

* * *

_User ID: Fang2_

_Time: 2.05pm_

_Hey._

_Didn't expect to find this on the internet. You guys are more caught up in our appearance than I expected. Cops wont even let you eat a meal in peace nowadays.  
_

_Fly on._

_- Fang2

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"…two questions." Max finally asked, looking from the computer screen and back at Fang. He raised an eyebrow, his silent sign of 'Yes?'. "One, why Fang2 and not just good ol' fashioned Fang?"

"Fang was taken," he shrugged, getting a eyebrow raise from Max. "Hey, don't look at me, people use all kinds of odd names on this thing."

"Ok… and second, how many comments did you get? You posted this like, half an hour ago…" she noted, checking the post time against the clock in the library.

"Sixty five." Fang answered, turning away from Max's 'Oh. My. God' mouth-half-open stare to scroll down the page. "All asking if we managed to get something to eat, what we eat, if we need any money, if there's any more of us, what's your name, why haven't you joined, where are we, do we really have wings or were we acrobats and would we join a traveling circus for $20 a show…"

"So people _do_ want to know..?" Max half mumbled, looking back at the screen, her jaw no longer collecting dust. Fang nodded, clicking a bright blue button at the bottom of the screen labeled 'reply'. The screen reloaded to a large text box area with loads of formatting tools around the outside.

"Care to make an introduction, or am I going to do it for you?" Fang smirked, his fingers poised for typing over the keyboard.

"And if I say not to post on there anymore..?" she queried, folding her arms across her chest. She didn't like all these random people knowing about them, let alone asking questions about their lives. Her brain was screaming to leave the library as fast as possible, in came someone could trace them there.

Snap decisions was _her_ trade mark. Fang had caught her off guard.

"I cant leave their questions unanswered," he replied, cool and calm like usual. His eyes showed a glimmer of hope, and a tiny hint of the bambi eyes Angel used to pull on her when she wanted her way. Sighing loudly, Max shimmied her chair closer, knocking him away from the keyboard and positioning her fingers over the keys.

"We get caught, I'm killing you." she mumbled as she began to type. Fang smirked, reading what she typed over her shoulder.

* * *

_User ID: Fang2_

_Time: 2.47pm_

_Hey._

_We didn't expect as many replies as that either. Yes, we really have wings. Flying is cool, feels great. Yes, we managed to get food and still have some money, no donations necessary. We eat normal food. Duh. No thanks on the job, we don't like being tied down. This is Max, as I don't plan to join, under Fang's name._

_There were more of us, now there's just the two. Me and Fang. That's all you need to know._

_Fly on._

_- Max

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_

She clicked 'send', and the page refreshed once more, centering on their new post after the sixty five other responses. Max sat back and re read it, hoping she hadn't given out too much information.

"I guess it feels kinda good to share this stuff with other people, you know?" She half whispered, looking over her shoulder at Fang. His dark eyes met hers as he gave a small smile.

"Yeah," he answered softly. "After all the hiding and secrets." Max smiled back, giving him a gentle kiss before leaning her cheek against his as they both looked back at the screen, happy in their silence as they pondered what people would be thinking and write back.

Max felt a twinge in her head, and groaned softly, letting her head roll back as far as it would go. Fang raised an eyebrow, putting his hand behind her head to lift it back up again.

"Headache?" he asked, gently stroking the back of her head. She nodded a yes very slowly, flinching as the movement made it throb just a little more painfully. Her eyes re-focused on the computer screen ahead of her, and she swallowed a frustrated scream.

"Computer," she mumbled, keeping her eyes on the monitor. Fang looked up, no emotion crossing his face as he stared at the now flickering screen. Images of the school and of buildings and floor plans he'd never seen floated across the screen like a slide show, blinking in and out. Finally, the image settled on a route finder image. Fang peered forwards a little, not taking his hand away from Max's head as he read the address above the red dot.

**Thirty third street subway station.**

"That's close to the Institute," Max commented, flinching as another wave of pain hit her head.

"Maybe there's a sewer system link between the two?" Fang queried, looking back at Max. She could see the worry in his eyes as he stroked the back of her head uselessly, trying to help relieve her pain.

"Yeah," her voice came through gritted teeth. The headache was a dull pain by now, occasionally hitting her sharply across the back of her head. "We should check it out this evening, after some dinner."

Another pulse hit her, and the image disappeared from the computer screen, flickering back to the forum page Fang had been examining. The page had refreshed, and four comments had already been made below it. Without looking at them, Fang closed his computer down before doing the same to Max's and offering his hand to her. She took it and stood up, an un-voiced question plastered all over her face.

"Some fresh air'll do you good," he answered, giving her a small tug towards the exit. "A nice afternoon fly sound good?"

She couldn't help but smile despite the pain, following him without any resistance. "Sounds brilliant, Fang."

-

The vow to never let him have a computer was forgotten as they drifted through clouds and over air currents. Max closed her eyes and opened her arms wide, enjoying the rush of wind on her face. Nothing could ever beat flying. Freedom was damn awesome, but flying was the _best_.

Fang was watching her, a small smile gracing his face. He loved seeing her so happy. Not that it happened that often in their lives, but these select moments he loved seeing. She looked carefree, unburdened, like a normal, happy teen. Except no normal teen could experience flying without a plane at this altitude.

Normal. It was over rated.

They spent the afternoon practicing the moves and maneuvers he had learned from his time with the hawks, way back before the school took them back. Minus a quick cash machine break, anyway. Max had picked up quite a few just by watching Fang fly, but he was reinforcing them, helping her make more light curves and direction changes and to how to control her rise and fall with more ease.

By the time they set down on a block of flats, dusk was beginning to fall over the city. It was almost negated by the bright lights, but it could be seen from way up in the sky. Their faces still flushed from the winds, the pair jumped down the fire escape steps onto the streets and set about finding a vendor to get dinner off of. Deciding on two hot dogs and a bag of doughnuts each, the pair settled onto a park bench and began to fill their stomachs.

Max had to force down her hot dogs, her stomach doing back flips with nerves about this evening. They were breaking into a branch of the school. Probably the one that kept all the data files and crud on its experiments.

_**That's right, Maximum. Good deduction.**_

Ignoring the Voice, Max continued to stuff sausage and bun into her mouth til it was all gone. Looking at him, she noticed Fang was already finished and looking out over the small pond ahead of them, playing with the paper bag the doughnuts had been in.

He was nervous. Not that he'd ever admit it out loud.

Max bit off half her doughnut in one go and followed his gaze. Ducks were swimming across the length of the lake, a mother followed by five tiny fluffy babies that answered her call. Daring a glance at Fang, she saw a slight hint of sadness floating about his eyes. The same sadness she was sure was mirrored in her own.

They never had a real family, or a real childhood. Their whole life up until Jeb saved them was experiments and needles and tests. One after another after another. A never ending stream. She'd put all of her trust into Jeb, to have it shattered the instant he took her baby, and her flock, away from her. She and Fang had been lucky to get out alive, now here they were, about to find out what they could about themselves and the flock.

Maybe they'd find their parents.

She swallowed hard, tears threatening. The little kids would have loved to have found their parents. She loved them all, and knew hey loved her, but it wasn't a substitute for a real mum. She never could be. If they'd found their parents, would they have left her? Would everyone have just disappeared into the sunset, her included, and never seen each other again?

Would Fang leave her?

She didn't realise the pricks in the corner of her eyes had become real tears until she felt Fang's rough skinned, gentle hand wipe one away. She tilted her head up a little, her eyes meeting his as he wiped her other eye ever so softly, taking the tear with him.

"You ok?" The sadness in his eyes had been replaced with worry. Max cursed silently, wiping her eyes with her sleeve to finish what Fang started.

"Yeah," she whispered, looking back at the duck and her kids as they swam behind a pond weed. "Was just thinking about the kids…"

She could feel Fang staring at the side of her face, trying to determine if that really was all that was flowing through her mind. Of course, now her brain was centered on one fear. She might lose the last thing she really cared about in the world if this mission was a success. She didn't want to go through with it as much any more, but at the same time she wanted to know, and he had the right to know about his parents. He had the choice to leave if he wanted.

_**Everything happens for a reason, Max. You cant control his actions.**_

_Screw you,_ Max thought back as she fought a second round of tears from surfacing. _I'd never try control his actions. And I would never stop him from leaving if that's what he wanted. A family would be better for him than me._

_**But it wouldn't be better for you. Think about it Maximum.**_

_I thought this wasn't about me anyway?_ She shot back, anger rising. _That I cant play this stupid game according to what I want._

_**Playing the game is half the battle. Winning depends on variables.**_

_What does that even mean? _Silence. The voice had gone dead yet again. It really didn't like questions. She felt a hand squeeze her own, and looked up at Fang. There was that damn concerned look again, his face otherwise stony and unreadable.

"You must be getting bored with looking at me in concern," she muttered, looking down at her feet.

"Not in the slightest," his reply made her look up again, and she was greeted with a smile. "Its an excuse to look at you." A slight blush accompanied Max's return smile, and Fang grinned, lifting his other had to brush her hair behind her ear and gently stroke her cheek. He lent in a little, still holding her other hand between them, rested on the bench. Seconds later, he closed the gap, pressing his lips to hers.

Her eyes fluttered shut immediately, softly pressing her lips back against his. Everything else lost all importance as their lips moved together; Time stood still. The earth stopped turning. Mad scientists and their evil plans forgotten. Her world was just Fang, only Fang. His taste. His smell. Everything about him was all that entered her senses. She lifted a hand to the one on her cheek, gently stroking the back of his hand absently.

Fang gently caressed her cheek as he kissed her, his other hand slowly stroking her closed fist. He'd longed for the day he could kiss her, feel her lips against his. Now he'd experienced it, he craved her touch, the taste of her lips. He just wanted to be close to her, to hold her. A smile graced his lips as he felt her hand on his, and he kissed her more deeply in response. His head swam, light-headedness taking over any thought pattern he could muster, squishing it to a pulp and leaving him lost in the world he'd just begun to enjoy so much.

They broke apart unwillingly, their eyes slowly opening to meet with each others. They shared a smile before shuffling into the centre of the bench and wrapping an arm around each other. Over the trees, they watched the sky slowly darken, the night drawing ever closer, yet all nervousness about the events to take place had been eradicated in those few seconds they shared. Max sighed gently, for the first time in content rather than annoyance. Nestled into his shoulder, safely wrapped in his arm, she felt happier than she had done in a long time.

That had _defiantly_ been better than flying.


	17. The Institute

**Ok...this is another long one, and I dont like how i ended it XD also, warning, this is probably the update _before_ the final update. I think it's Penultimate? I unno. Me bad with words. Either way, this one is getting close to the end. I _will_ be writing a sequel, which im actually going to plan, so there'll be a gap while i re read the second book and make notes of important things i need to include and plan about it.**

**During such a gap, I might make a stand alone fic, based on the escape from the institute. Basic summary: Max doesnt get that all so important opening to jump Ari, and is knocked out and pulled into the institute for tests and transferral back to the School. An OC (who is yet to have a name, one of the bird kids they release) seems to know a hell of a lot about what's happening inside the school, and confirms to Fang that she is in fact alive, and they have five days to get her out before she ends up in the depths of the school once more, but she's keeping a secret. Like, how does she know whats going on in the school? Why is she helping them? How does she know Jeb and why can't angel get any memories or thoughts from her dating back further than a few hours before the infultrated the Institute's lower level?**

**Dudes, it might not happen XD work in progress. But I'll get bored of not writing while im reading, so I might write it even if no one wants to read it. That and Im really bad at summaries, especially when i ramble like above.**

**Let me know, eh? =P**

**Anyway, this update is a long one again. Enjoy =P**

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**bookwurm: cheer me dears =3**

**dallas: yar, thought i'd give the blog an intro =P and i'd so be carrying a pitchfork**

**Chio: thanks alot =3

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**Part 17**

By the time they found the way to the Thirty Third street subway station, the sun had set. Had they not been in New York it would have actually been dark. They slipped silently over the turnstiles blocking the empty station and began to search for a way into the sewers of the city.

"Over here," Fang called in a half whisper, making Max spin on the spot and jog over to him. He was stood by a well concealed tunnel, very thin in width, leading away from the platform. A few feet in front of them, it turned into pitch blackness.

"Think its down there?" she whispered back, reaching out into the near blackness to check how big the tunnel really was. About six foot in height and two feet wide, it wouldn't be a huge squeeze. Wouldn't exactly be comfortable either, but it was better than a dog crate.

"Yeah," came his hushed reply as his fingers brushed over the walls as well, checking its dimensions as she had been doing. "Check it out?"

Max was already into the mouth of the tunnel, slowly walking deeper. One hand was brushing against the wall as she stepped into the darkness. Fang followed, doing the same as he watched the back of her dimly lit head fade to blackness. The tunnel seemed to go one forever. Though he hadn't recognised the part of the city this station had been in, so for all they knew it could go on for miles before they found what the needed.

Finally, the smell of the sewers hit Fangs nostrils. He raised his free hand over his nose and mouth, still tracing the slimy wall with the other. Ahead of him, Max was trying not to retch as she focused on the tunnel's twists and turns. The further they went in, the stronger the stench got. Until they hit a brick wall.

Hitting a brick wall wasn't all that useful.

"Now what?" She span around to look at Fang. Not that she could actually see him in the dark, but it came natural to look at him while talking. She swore she could just see him shrug his shoulders before he replied.

"No idea," his voice was muffled by his hand, pressed tight over his mouth and nose. "Maybe we took the wrong tunnel…"

Max sighed, spinning to look at the annoyingly solid feeling brick wall once more. Running her hands over its dirty surface, she searched for any missing bricks or a hidden door handle. Nothing. Resisting the urge to hit her head against it, she instead took a few steps backwards.

Her heel caught on something, and she toppled backwards. Fang heard her slip, and he quickly flew his arms out to catch her. She landed in his arms with a soft _Oof!._

Blinking, she looked up to where she assumed Fang's face was. Thankfully, the darkness meant he wouldn't see her blush. She may have got used to his kisses, and his affection, but blushing was a different matter. It was totally embarrassing. She was sure he felt the same, even if he did think it looked cute or whatever on her.

"That was…unexpected," Fang whispered, hauling Max into a more upright position. "I expected to hear you hitting your head against something again."

"I was thinking about it," she muttered, her focus already drawn from his adorable yet hidden face. "Then my heel got caught on something…" She crouched down, feeling the floor with her hands, delicately as Iggy might have done. She swallowed a girly squeal as she brushed her hand against a rat and slid her fingers through the grime and dirt until they found what she hoped was there.

"Here," she whispered, and she felt Fang quickly kneel beside her, his hands running over hers before finding what she was motioning to.

"A lid?" he asked softly, sliding his hands over the heavy lid. It was completely solid, and had writing etched into it, but Fang couldn't determine what it said. In the middle was a large, thick handle. Grabbing it, he gave the heavy metal lump a precautionary yank. It moved, just a little, before falling back into place.

The tiniest amount of light escaped from the gap Fang made, and Max smiled. "That's where we need to be. On one, pull." she instructed, grabbing the handle next to his own hands. She took a few seconds to adjust her grip and tightened her grasp.

"One," the pair pulled on the handle, lifting it from its deep hole, held up by a lip at the bottom. Even Fang couldn't deny it was extremely heavy. With difficulty, they just managing to lift it above the lip it had been rested in and balance it on the edge of the hole. Together, they pushed it aside, clearing the hole completely. A dull, orangey glow now filtered into the tunnel they were in, illuminating their faces as they peered down into the depths below. Fang quickly placed his hand back over his mouth and nose.

There was no doubt that was the sewer.

"No going back now," Max stated, looking into Fang's eyes. "Ready to find whatever's down there?"

Fang nodded. Just once. It was the only confirmation she needed to fling her arms above her head and jump into the stinky depths below. Landing gracefully a few seconds later, Max moved from under the hole before having a look around. She stood on a thin, concrete ledge. A ladder she'd ignored lead up from the platform to the hole she'd jumped through. The one Fang now dropped down from.

"This is inviting," he mumbled through a covered mouth, taking in the dirty water flowing between them and the concrete ledge on the other side. A few rats caught his eyes and scampered away, out of sight. It took all of Max's self control not to shudder. Instead, she took Fang's free yet grimy hand and started leading the way she decided was the right way. The way they'd been going in the other tunnel.

It didn't take long to find what Max supposed was where they were looking for. Ahead of them, at the end of the platform, was a large metal door. It looked heavy, and oppressive, even from the distance they were at. Getting closer, Max let go of Fang's hand to test the door knob.

Locked. Figured.

"I take it it's locked?" Fang asked, taking a few steps closer to her. She nodded solemnly in response, her brain occupied by thinking a way round a locked door. Fang knelt down and looked through it, before sitting back on his heels. He knocked against the door.

"I don't think they're going to answer Fang…" Max said exasperatedly, but Fang continued to knock softly over the door, then around the lock.

"That bit isn't solid metal." He stated, getting up and motioning towards the lock. "There's a lump there that's some kind of reinforced plate, but not pure metal, probably to fit the keyhole in." He looked at Max and got greeted by a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not going to ask _how_ you knew how to check, but how exactly does that help us?" she queried, folding her arms across her chest.

"Simple," Fang said, taking a few steps backwards. "Its like kicking in a padlock surrounded by metal. It hurts like hell…" He launched a kick at the keyhole on the door, sucking in a breath as his heel hit the solid metal surrounding it. The keyhole, and about five centimetres of metal on each side of it, retained a dent. "…but it can be done." He finished, readying another kick to the door.

"Wont they hear us if we kick the door in?" Max had to admit, she was impressed. Though doing his foot in probably wasn't the best idea in the world, it got them into the Institute. Of course, she didn't admit this out loud. Fang's head needed to fit through the door after all.

"They're probably all at home at this hour," he replied, before kicking at the door another time. He cursed under his breath as his ankle began to throb. The keyhole and surrounding metal looked like it might break any time. "Care to do the honours?" he asked, grinning at Max.

"Only to save your foot," she smirked back, and he stepped aside, motioning for her to step forwards like a gentleman holding a door might for his lady friend. Taking up his position, Max launched a kick at the door. Fang was right, it _did_ hurt, but the lock was totally mangled by now. Testing her foot and finding it was fine, she took a few steps forwards. After a couple of seconds delay and a deep breath, she tried the door.

It opened. Bingo.

Pulling it open wide, both teens peered into the open doorway curiously. It lead into a short hallway that became a winding staircase. There was very little light, a greenish glow coming from a lamp screwed to the ceiling just above the beginning of the staircase. They looked at each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. When neither said a word, Fang took a step forwards into the green gloom.

"No turning back," he repeated Max's previous phrase, not looking behind him to check she was following. He knew she would. No matter hat was down here, his own curiosity was too much to bare to just walk away. Besides, despite what he told Max, he still had the tiniest stupid hope that the flock might still be alive. If there was information on them, it would be here.

He heard Max's light footsteps behind him as he reached the staircase, and turned and waited for her to catch up. She gave him a nervous smile, her soft features illuminated by the eerie green glow. Fang took a few seconds to marvel at how pretty she looked _even_ in a place like this.

Finally, he motioned down the stairs with his head. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she replied, her nervousness making her voice a little shaky. Fang took the first few steps onto the stairs and she followed closely behind, her hand trailing against the wall. There was no hand rail, no rope, just the wall and a tonne of spiral stairs in almost darkness.

Apparently safely wasn't a huge issue here.

Eventually Fang reached another small corridor, followed by a just as sinister looking door as the first. This one had a glass panel in the top half, and Fang peered through. The room was lit by the glow of computers whirring, and a small light fixed to the ceiling.

_Probably on low power for the night…_ Fang pondered, taking in how dull the room looked. He could feel Max behind him, peering over his shoulder. After a few seconds, he reached down to the door handle and tried it. It wasn't locked.

Opening it just enough to squeeze through, Fang slid into the room ahead of Max to check over the computers. Almost all of them were in downtime, the screens only on as they fuzzed in a half-offline mode. In the centre of the room, one computer was still ticking over properly. He approached it and moved the mouse. The screen lit up brighter, and Fang smiled.

"Some idiot left this one logged in," he whispered, Max already at his side. "No password to crack or anything. Love it when things start going right."

"Don't get too cocky, Fang." Max replied softly, looking about them for cameras or any signs of movement whatsoever. "That's usually when things go wrong, remember?"

He gave a soft snort as a response, and clicked a file searcher. Tapping his finger on the edge of the keyboard, his jaw tightened in thought. "What should we search?" he muttered. Max didn't reply. She had no idea either.

Instead, Fang opened file after file and scrolled through the contents. Much of the data was encrypted, number and random letters not letting them get any information from the files and files of data. When he was almost ready to give up, Fang spotted a folder all on its own, hidden within another folder itself.

_Successful Recombinant Groups_

Looking around, he saw Max loitering near the edge of the room, tapping the wall nervously as she looked around her. Turning his attention back to the screen, he clicked the folder, and many more popped into view.

"Origins…" he whispered to himself as he hovered the mouse over a file. After a few seconds decision, he clicked it. Data suddenly covered the screen. Pictures, addresses, codes and pointless streams of codes. Every few lines, a code would be written in, followed by a name in brackets. He recognised them all. His jaw set tight as he read the word printed in red next to the members of his former flock.

**Decommissioned**

He clicked print, and the printer just a few tables away from him sprang into life, spewing out pieces of paper. Max raised an eyebrow as she watched him jog over to it and begin folding papers, stuffing them into his jacket pockets until the printer finally shut down. Wondering what he'd found, she moved to go and ask him, but something caught her eye.

Some of the wall next to her seemed to be peeling away, blackness behind it.

_Walls cant peel…_ Max wondered absently, reaching out and grabbing it. It wasn't wall, it was fabric. A heavy fabric. She could see where it should be tacked to the wall it overlapped. Cautiously, Max pulled the fabric away even more, tearing it as pins tried to keep it tight against the wall. She was poised to run, expecting a troop of erasers to jump out at her and rip her throat out.

Instead of teeth, her heart caught in her throat at what she saw. Behind the curtain were cages and cages, stacked high on top of each other, five or six tall. Inside were mutants. Crying, sleeping or scared looking mutants trying to shimmy away from the light coming from the computer room. Most of the unfortunate creatures seemed to be failed experiments, scales covering random parts of their bodies while their owners struggled to breathe, children covered with patched of hair, coughing up furballs almost constantly.

It made her sick. She almost was when she saw the poor kid with his organs on the outside of his body.

She felt an arm around her waist pull her tight against someone, another arm wrapped itself around her shoulder. Fang. He could feel her shaking against him, just a little bit, like she does when she gets angry or upset. He repeated what he'd done last ime, rocking her back and forth. Back and forth. He heard her sniff, felt her move to wipe away tears.

It brought back horrific memories in his own mind, and pain floated behind his eyes and he locked them away again, deep inside his subconscious. It was how he coped. Max was soon fighting his arms off, bored with being babied. He let her go, dropping his arms to his sides as she crouched down next to a cage on the floor. Inside was a little girl, maybe ten years old. She had wings tucked against her back, the bright green and yellow a stark contrast against her grey nightgown. Max was whispering to her softly, trying to offer support no doubt. Fang waited til she stood again before he spoke.

"We cant save them, Max." She didn't turn around, she didn't even look at him. He could see her shoulders shaking a little, but he didn't step towards her.

"We cant just leave them Fang," he voice didn't exhibit sadness, but determination. Turning, her eyes were the mismatch of emotions they always where when she got an idea into her head.

"I cant kick that many locks in," he reasoned with her, daring a few steps forwards. "And neither can you. You know it."

She did, but Max was adamant she didn't want to admit it. Inside every one of these poor children, she was her own little Angel. Her flock. The looks in their eyes reminded her of the sorrow and hopelessness she had experienced so many years ago herself. She'd never wish what the school did to her upon anyone, yet here they were, doing it to hundreds of kids right under the world's nose.

"Then what do we do..?" Max whispered, finally submitting to Fang's logic. She felt his hands take hold of hers, but she kept her gaze on his own eyes. They swam with emotions similar to hers, causing her to wonder how he remained strong even when all this crap tumbled down on his shoulders.

"We'll get out of here alive," he said gently, tugging her gently back towards the fabric coated doorway. "We'll take down the company behind these places, and we'll come back for them."

"What makes you think we can do that Fang?" he was succeeding at guiding her to the doorway, his back pushing against the material as he led her out into the computer room. He looked her dead in the eyes, intense and silent, before answering.

"Because we're going to save the world," he whispered. "Whether it be Jeb's definition of the word, or ours, we'll save the world. And those kids are a part of it. I swear it to you, Max. We _will_ come back for them. But if we hang around here much longer we wont be alive to do that."

Max's attention was instantly drawn to the footsteps and muted taking upstairs. She looked up at the ceiling, then back at Fang, fear now clouding her soft, brown eyes.

"Move!" she whispered harshly, letting go of his hand as they sprinted for the door. The voices were just behind the main lab door as they rocketed up the spiral stairs, Max closely behind Fang as he sprinted out the doorway and along the narrow ledge. Adrenaline pumped through her system as Max raced after him, taking a few seconds to push the door shut, hoping that even though it didn't lock it would slow their pursuers down. A quick judgement of the width of the tunnel and she whisked her wings open, just about to kick off the ledge when the heavy door swung open. She sucked in a breath as her wing got crushed between the door and the wall, immediately pulling both of them in, the throbbing one hanging slightly further out as her adversary grinned at her.

"Ari," she spat his name, sliding along the wall slowly as he advanced on her. He laughed happily, reaching out to grab her. Max ducked, taking the opportunity to sprint away, headed in the same direction as Fang.

Max was quick, but Ari had a longer stride. He was gaining on her with ease, his feet thumping on the tiles getting louder and louder as Max dared peek over her shoulder. She was greeted with a fist to the face and she span out, hitting the wall before slumping against it. He advanced on her as she eased herself to her hands and knees, spitting a shot of blood onto the tiled floor.

As she began to scrabble up, she finally got a break. Ari's clumsy feet slipped on the dirty tiled, giving her just enough time to get to her feet and aim a kick at his head. He yelped a sit connected, falling slightly to the side as Max sprinted back towards the hole. It was seconds before he was upon her again, this time becoming his personal punching bag. Trapped between Ari and a wall, there wasn't much Max could do but take his attacks one by one, slowly being engulfed by the pain as hit after hit connected with arms, legs, stomach, head. He laughing, _enjoying_ himself as he reduced her to a bag of pulp.

He pulled his fist back, as far as it could go. Max squinted at him, now a ball against the wall, her muscles refusing to work for her as pain ravaged her system. She saw the glint in his eyes, the pleasure behind them, before he swung his fist forwards. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the hit to connect with her head. The pain remained, but the hit never came.

_Am I dead..?_ Max's mind was still alert. The pain was still filling her system, blotting her other senses. Surely death couldn't hurt like this. Slowly, she opened her eyes, letting her hazy vision slowly refocus. Ari was no longer ahead of her, only the vast volume of stinking water flowing past. Pulling herself into a more upright position, Max blinked back a headache as she looked around her. Then she saw it.

Ari was on the ground, unmoving. He wasn't even making a noise. On top him was Fang, kicking and punching his unmoving form.

"Fang…" her voice was weakened, and gargled from blood. She spit it out on the tiles and looked up to see him give Ari one last kick before he turned and jogged back to Max, instantly crouching next to her and cradling her face in his hands.

"You alright?" he asked softly, gently stroking her cheeks, concern hiding the anger as it slowly ebbed away.

"What happened..?" she mumbled, her headache coupled with the pain in her wing and muscles slowly eating her brain function.

"Came back to find you when you didn't come out straight after me. Found you curled up…with Ari…" he couldn't bring himself to explain what he'd seen. He hated seeing Max helpless in any kind of situation, the words Maximum Ride and Helpless didn't belong in the sentence.

"I tackled him off," he continued after a pause, looking over at the lifeless Ari laying about twelve feet away from them. "He hit his neck sideways on the ledge into the water. I pulled him up onto the ledge by the shirt and he spat in my eye before passing out."

"…is he dead..?" she whispered, hating how weak her voice made her feel.

Fang nodded slowly, lightly wiping a dribble of blood away from the corner of her mouth. She didn't question why he'd been kicking the crap out of a lifeless Ari, and he was glad for it. It was something he was ashamed to admit. For someone who kept their emotions so well guarded, losing it and kicking the crap out of someone was not usual behaviour for him.

Though it would have been more satisfying if he was awake. Ari had tried to kill him after all.

Max tried to get to her feet. Fang quickly slipped her arm over his shoulder and lifted her, picking up her legs with his other arm before she could object. He held her tightly to him as he began sprinting for the hole they'd some through. Max held onto his shirt, too beat up to try and wriggle free. He gave her a boost up into the corridor above and climbed the ladder to get back up himself, struggling to pull the cover back over in case they were followed by anything else. The pair sat back in silence, staring into the near blackness as they let their bodies come down from the adrenaline rush.

Max flinched as she heard Jab's strangled cry. He'd found his son's body, and was crying and wailing in the tunnels below. Fang lent his head back against the grimy wall, eyes closed, trying to blot out his screams. Max was shuddering, her feeling numbed to his pain. He'd caused them enough, he deserved his own.

Fang noted Max's breathing was laboured. It was heavy and ragged, like she'd just run fifty miles without a break. It began to get better, as his did, but was still faster than it should have been, as well as a little shaky when she drew in deep breaths.

"Fang..?" She finally broke the silence, turning her head to where she believed him to be.

"Mm..?" She'd been about right.

"Did you…mean to kill him..?"

"Hell no," Somehow, Fang's reply relaxed her a little. All the crap Ari had pulled, death would be the softest punishment to give him, but deep down she still felt sorry for him. The kid who just wanted his dad's attention. His dad affection.

"I meant to rough him up. For what he did to me. Payback." Fang continued, shuffling in the dark to get to his feet. "Come on, we better get out of here. There's no reason to hang around this dump anymore." Max felt his hand take hers and help pull he to her feet and start leading her towards the exit. He muscles all complained, her wing throbbing against her back as she followed, but she didn't say a word.

**_Variables, Max. It all changes the outcome. Jeb will get over it and continue as he should._**

Max screwed her eyes up against the voice trying to phase it out of her mind.

**_He just killed your brother, Max. Fang killed your only brother._**

_Ari wasnt my brother,_ she mentally shouted back, anger rising. _Fang is still here, and he's the closest to family I've ever had, and probably ever will have._

_**That might not be true for Fang as well, Maximum. Play the game carefully.**  
_

"What're we gunna do when we get out of here?" she asked softly, concentrating on the light ahead slightly illuminating Fang's outline. It was a good way to avoid having to pay attention to the tormenting of the voice in her head.

"I got some stuff of the computer you might want to see," he replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "It's…intriguing…"


	18. A New objective

**I reached the end...wow, first fic I've ever written that I haven't given up on XD But yeah...t'is the end of this story now. I will be doing a sequel, as i said, and maybe a stand alone i the middle if i get that far, while i plan the next one.**

**Huge thank you to all the people who reviewed on this story. It was you guys that kept me writing =3 I hope you like the ending, even if this one is short XD but i ran outta stuff to say after a while, and didnt wanna ramble.**

**I'll post a preview of the new one here when i get that far, as well as a preview for the stand alone I'm doing when that starts up, so you can find them if you would like to read them.  
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**I already have certain aspects of the next book planned in my head...though im not sure if I'm going to include Max 2, but i probably will. Anyway. Read and enjoy. =3**

**Its been fun.**

**~ millisfoxx

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**Part 18**

The sun was beginning to rise as they found a secluded spot in the woods. Flopping down against trees, they took a well deserved rest. The scientists had been early risers, disturbing them before they could comfortably make an exit. Fang looked over at Max as she rested. She'd had to fly here on a damaged wing, the strain she was refusing to voice written across her face as she tried to relax. Fang lent back against his own tree and closed his eyes.

_What a night…_ he thought, shifting to pull the papers from his back pocket and spread them on his lap. He heard Max moving, and opened his eyes when he felt her head leaning against his shoulder.

"What's that?" she asked, lifting the corners of a few pieces of paper curiously. Fang raised one arm and wrapped it around her shoulders, very softly stroking her arm as he spoke.

"Its data…about our Flock," he whispered. Her eyes shot up to meet his, serious and piercing in the morning light.

"What kind of data?" she queried, leaning a little more into him and taking a few of the top papers. She scanned them. Halfway down, one word caught her eye.

_Iggy_

"Everything," he replied, pulling a few papers up to look himself. "Who we used to be, where we were taken from, birthdays, our parents. There's even photos…"

Max sat up, flicking through the pages. Fang removed his arm from around her and started flicking through the pile on his lap. Max's heart stopped when she saw the picture. Iggy's parents. They _really_ did look like him. His dad has strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes she swore were Iggy's natural colour before the school messed them up. His mum was slightly pudgy and kind looking, a smile on her face, an apron tied around her middle.

_Like a real mum._

"That's me," Fang whispered so quietly she almost didn't hear it. Leaning over his shoulder, she saw Fang's name followed by a city or state name, then a bunch of numbers. He flicked over the page, and was met with a picture like the one she was holding for Iggy.

"They look a lot like you…" Max mumbled, studying them. The father was tall and slender, dark hair cut short. It looked black, but a tiny amount of light from the camera flash showed a hint of brown. His eyes were green, wide and piercing, his jaw set in a lack of emotion at the camera man. Mother Fang was quite tall, but she had a little weight on her. Fang swallowed hard when he noted the pregnancy bulge under her dress. She was smiling, her long, light brown hair falling just past her shoulders. His father's arm was around his smiling wife, his hand on the edge of her bump.

"They look too perfect," Fang finally got out, slipping behind is own mask as tears tried to make an appearance. No way was he going to cry in front of Max. "They probably got actors or something and took photos…"

"Maybe," Max whispered, it being her turn to wrap an arm around him. "We can always…find out…"

Fang looked up at her. "Seriously? What happens if there's erasers there, waiting for us? Or if they aren't what they say they are. What if they want me back Max?" She could see the mixed emotions swimming in his eyes, as much as his set jaw would hate that she could read him like a book. He was scared. He didn't want to be making these decisions, because he'd have to chose between the two things he wanted most in the world.

_Parents or Max._

"We'll cross the bridge when we come to it," she soothed, gently nuzzling his cheek as she wrapped her other arm around his front and hugged him tight. He closed his eyes and rested his cheek against hers, letting his fears wash away. He couldn't imagine leaving her for anything in the world. Ever. Not for a mother nor the biggest cheeseburger anyone could wave at him.

"I…cant find anything for you…" he whispered after a few moments thought. "Been through them all at least three times…I cant see your name, and no photographs…"

Max repressed a sigh. Whether it was because she expected crap like this to happen by now, or from relief, she wasn't sure. What the voice had told her played through her mind as she held Fang tighter. He killed her only brother. She shuddered.

That made Jeb her father.

Years ago, when she still trusted him, she would have been overjoyed to find Jeb was her father. He was her role model, almost a God in her eyes. He'd saved them, raised them, taught them everything they knew. Then he'd vanished. After, he took her flock from her. The idea she might share his genetics made her sick.

Still, she wondered who her mother was. There was still the happy delusion it was Dr. Martinez, but that was no more than a mere delusion. It was so damn unlikely it wasn't even worth considering.

"Max..?" Fang's quiet voice brought her back to the present. She looked at him, his eyes intense and searching. Looking for the emotion she was feeling. But there wasn't one. She felt blank. Empty. If she had no parents, maybe it was for the better.

"It's ok," she answered after a few seconds, taking her arms from around him to transfer the papers into her lap. "I'm not sure I really want to know anyway…" she thought aloud, skimming through the papers to see if he'd missed her name.

Nada. No Maximum Ride.

His arms wrapped themselves around her waist, pulling her onto his lap in one easy movement, before she could even protest. She blinked, looking straight into Fang's ever emotive eyes. She smiled slightly, folding her legs to the side to they laid against his as she looked down at him. The papers wedged between her legs and his middle.

"What's your excuse this time?" she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck, their noses almost touching as she kept her eyes on his.

"Do I _always_ need an excuse..?" he whispered back as he grinned, trailing one hand over her cheek to push her ever wayward hair behind her ear. She sat back very slightly and looked at the sky, pretending to think. Fang couldn't help but laugh softly.

"I thought not needing excuses came with the boyfriend title," he mumbled, tightening his arms around her to pull her back to him. She smiled at him sweetly, returning her arms around his neck as she rested her forehead against his.

"Guess you're right," she mumbled. "But that mean I don't need excuses to do this…" She trailed off as she tilted her head and leant forwards, closing the gap between their lips in less than a second.

Both teens closed their eyes as their lips danced tenderly, rhythmically, together. Fang slid a hand up her back and into Max's hair, cradling her head. She arched her back slightly into him, forcing him to tilt his head up higher to maintain the contact he craved. His arm tightened around her, holding her body close to his as they got lost in each other.

Finally, Max pulled away. Fang leaning forwards very slightly to prolong the kiss for just a second more. Max opened her eyes slowly, her smile once again making her face beautiful in the morning light. Fang smiled back, the hand against her head lightly playing with her hair.

"Why would you _need_ an excuse for doing that?" he whispered. "I'd _never_ object to that." Max pulled a face before leaning her forehead back against his, her arms still securely around his neck.

She didn't expect Fang to push her away.

Blinking, she sat up straight, removing her arms from around his neck and looking at him in confusion. He held up a hand in a 'one second' gesture and took his hands from around her. Opening his breast pocket he dug inside it, his face impassive as he pulled out a thin piece of material between two fingers. It was hanging tightly, and Max tilt her head until she saw why. In the middle of the necklace was a pendant.

Fang dropped the necklace into his palm. "It had a metal chord thing at first," he said, looking down at it, not noticing Max's attention was on his face. "I figured…it wasn't really you. So I changed it." He picked it up again, showing her the fabric chord he'd added instead of the metal. Max reached out and held the pendant part in her hand. Fang dropped the string.

The pendant was painted metal, circular, about half the diameter of her palm and an inch thick. Black in colour, half of it was solid metal, and the other was a thick rim with a gap the shape of a half moon. In the solid side, a smooth hole had been cut where the chord ran through. She looked up at Fang, her mouth very slightly open in surprise.

"I was…trying to find some chord, at first…" he continued awkwardly, obviously well out of his comfort zone. "Then the right time to give it to you…but…no time seemed right…" He lifted the necklace by the string and lifted it over her head. She tilted her head forwards very slightly as he did so, picking up the pendant again after it fell against her chest. He flicked a few hair out from underneath the chord.

"The woman in the shop said it signified new beginnings…I though…it was appropriate…" Max looked back up at him. His eyes swam with so many emotions as he struggled to get out what he meant. He was studying her face, waiting for her reaction. Max realised she'd been silent ever since he'd pulled it out, her face resembling a goldfish.

She smiled softly, resting her hand on his chest to lean forwards and kiss him sweetly on the lips. Just longer than a peck.

"I love it, Fang." She whispered. Relief spread through his eyes as a smile graced his face. His arms went back round her as he adjusted her on his lap, positioning her head against his chest.

"Get some sleep, Max." He whispered, am arm wrapped close around her waist and the other stroking her cheek. "We had a long day…"

Max nestled into his chest, curling up slightly on him. Now that he mentioned it, she felt exhausted. The dull pain in all her limbs, once forgotten, now reminding her they were there. She cured her arms against him, content in the position she was in.

Dozing against his shirt within a matter of seconds, she whispered gently, almost in audible, before she drifted off.

"I love you Fang…"

"I love you too, Max." he whispered into her ear, still slowly stroking her cheek. Once her felt her breathing slow and her muscles relax, he resting his cheek on her head and wrapped his arms protectively around her. Closing his eyes, he let himself slowly drift into dreamland as events ran through his head.

He might have parents out in the world somewhere…if his did, would they take Max in as well? Would he want to stay with them anyway? What if they turned them over to the authorities, or it was all just a trap? Even with so many unanswered question batting around his head, his last thoughts before he fell asleep were simple.

No matter what happened, and whatever came up, his decision was final.

He would _never_ leave Max.

Until the day he died.


	19. PREVIEW 1: Untold Chapters

**This is a preview of part one of the stand alone story I planned to start. I ended up not working today, so had free time to get this one started. It's been posted already under the title:**

**The Angel Experiment: Untold Chapters.**

**If you like it, please review in the new story, after reading the rest of part one =D Its a little short, and the story itself wont be anywhere near as long as this one. S'like a filler story XD Anyway, enjoy. I hope you like it.

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**Part 1**

Fang raced down the sewers, the awful smell burning his nostrils as he took deep breaths. Behind him, half a tonne of mutants Max had just released followed him as fast as they could. They were literally running for their lives from the sick scientists who made them what they were.

He skidded to a halt at the grate and began helping the mutants into the hole, telling them to run as soon as they got there. He counted his own flock members as he pushed them through. Nudge. Gasman. Iggy. Angel and Max were still missing as he pushed the last girl, young with wings held tightly to her back and a sobbing mutant in her arms, through the hole. Looking back, he then saw Angel souring over the stagnant water, tightly gripping a small bundle of fur. She looked scared, so very scared.

Like Max, it made him angry to see her scared. She was so small, just a child. She shouldn't have to go through any of this kind of crap. Keeping his face set, he caught her as she landed, almost throwing her through the hole, not bothering to ask about the fur-ball. For a split second, he thought about running back in after Max, then changed his mind. She hated being babied, she'd probably shout at him for it later.

_She can hold her own,_ he thought as he scurried through the gap after Angel.

Once he got outside, he took a huge breath of fresh air, thankful the whole city didn't smell like a sewer. All of the mutants had dispersed, none of them seemed to want to hang around.

_Good,_ Fang thought. _We cant afford to look after ourselves half the time…_

Then he saw her. Its was the bird kid he'd pushed through ahead of Angel. She was just standing there, staring at the subway entrance, no emotion in her eyes or face at all, the squirming kid who'd been in her arms no where to be seen. He raised an eyebrow, then noticed Angel wasn't circling with the rest of the flock. She was staring at the other girl, squinting like she was concentrating on her.

_Its been five minutes,_ Fang thought, a hint of panic behind them as he looked back at the subway entrance. _What's Max up to?_

That was when Ari burst out of the doorway.

"Angel! In the air! Now!" Fang yelled, running towards her. She wasn't listening, still focused on the girl in front of her. She let out a small yelp as Fang picked her up and launched her into the air. Thankfully, she snapped open her wings and soured up higher than Ari could reach. He made a jump for her and snarled in frustration when he only grazed her shoe. Landing with a thump, he set his sights back on Fang.

"Hey, c'mon, snap out of it!" He was shaking the other girl's shoulders, trying to snap her out of whatever stupor she was in. After a few seconds, she blinked and fell backwards slightly, looking him directly in the eyes.

"Can you fly?" He asked hurriedly, eyes constantly darting between Ari and the girl. He was getting close, too close. They needed to move.

"I…don't know…"

_Fudge it. _Fang grabbed her bridal style and launched himself into the sky, his dark wings glinting purple in the morning sunshine. Ari growled as he made a grab for him, getting a hold of Fangs ankle and trying to yank him back down.

He was greeted with a shoe to the face, making him yelp and let go in surprise. It was all the time Fang needed to get airborne and away from the snarling eraser.

"She's dead, Freak!" Ari shouted up after him as he flew to meet the rest of his Flock. "Maximum Ride is no more!" Looking down, Fang could see the happiness in the eraser's eyes, the joy through his hideous grin. Fang shuddered inwardly, souring up to guide his family to safety.

She was Max. She couldn't be dead. Could she?


	20. PREVIEW: The Sequel

**Alrighty, a random segment of the sequel i'm currently trying to get ahead of myself on...for those awaiting it, I need aide. Titles, Im not so good at XD if anyone has any ideas, could you please let me know? review or in a pm or something? I'm totally lost here. Also, its going to be kinda along the same lines as good ol' JP's book with a few twists and turns to keep you on your toes.**

**Second, for anyone who reads Torchwood, I have a crossover now up (blame my mum, she requested i write one...) so thats three im writing at once. This is kind of an early preview to apologise for the lack of updates in the Angel Experiment: Untold chapters. I hate writers block.**

**So, enjoy, let me know what you think, and titles too? =3 love you all lol xx

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Max closed her eyes as she rode an air current, enjoying the calmness that came with flying so high in the air. No people, no erasers. Nothing up here was an immediate threat to her or Fang. Just them and the vast expanse of sky greeting their wings.

It was heaven.

She took a glance at Fang. He was flying next to her, his long, dark wing overlapping hers as he matched her stroke for stroke. It felt good to feel his wing brush against hers every now again, comforting.

Letting her eyes wander to his face, she noticed the dark lines forming under his eyes. He was seriously behind on his sleep, and the overnight haul seemed to be taking its toll. Not that he'd admit it, he'd pretend he was fine until he fell out of the sky from exhaustion.

He could be an idiot sometimes. But he was her squishy, iron-willed idiot.

"How close are we?" she asked curiously, noting the sun was beginning to make an appearance again. He turned his head towards the sun, then looked straight forwards, his jaw fixed in concentration when he realised he'd undershot their flight time.

"Maybe an hour," he said, turning his attention back to Max. She looked well and rested, minus the cuts and bruises on her beautiful face already beginning to heal. She was looking out towards the city they were heading into, making an estimate of the time herself, her powerful wings gently brushing against his on the upstroke.

"Possibly and hour and a half," she added to the end of his statement. "We probably need the far side of the city or something…"

"Dunno, haven't figured out where we should be looking yet." Fang mused aloud. The papers in his back pocket were the ones that led them to DC in the first place. But it had no home address, even a street name. Just DC, followed by a sequence of numbers, probably encrypted coding. "We can give that another crack over breakfast…"

"…I hear something…" Max whispered, glancing at him sideways. He raised an eyebrow, now listening intently to the quiet morning.

_Swooosh_

"I hear it too," he murmured, adrenaline already leaking into his veins. "Sounds like…a flock of birds..? Behind us, maybe…"

Max looked over her shoulder and instantly wished she hadn't. On the horizon, getting closer and closer, was a dark mass of what looked like enormous birds, their wings making a large swoosh as they work in unision as best they could. Max turned on the spot and zoned in with her raptor vision, flapping her wings just enough to keep her airborne.

Large, gangly, awkward birds. With wolf faces.

_Crap._

"Flying erasers, Fang!" she shouted as she started beating her wings faster to catch up with him. "About twenty, at least. Gaining on us fast."

"Then running…well, flying…is pointless," he mused, his dark eyes reflecting what he was thinking.

"Hope you're up for it," she muttered to herself. Fang furrowed his brows at her, confirming she had indeed said that loud enough for him to hear. That's why she didn't want him to be knackered. He may be able to fly, but could he still fight?

She didn't have time to consider anything before the new erasers were upon then, scratching and slashing at the couple from every angle imaginable. They were coming in waves, five at a time at least. by the time the first five were beginning to fall, the next wave had made it too them.

All too soon they were severely outnumbered by the winged demons, ranging from erasers ready to fall into the water below and fresh ones still full of fire. Max was holding her own, just dodging cuffs and slashes as she kicked an eraser in the chest. Its repulsive air left its chest in a _whoosh_ before it fell. She was too wrapped up in a spat with five other erasers to hear the satisfying splash as it hit the water.

_**Fang.**_

Max shot up, letting the five erasers collide and shriek as claws meant for her met eraser flesh. Above her, Fang was wrapped up in a fight with three erasers, but he wasn't as fast as he should be. Where he should have been nimbly dodging kicks and punches, he was taking over half of them at full throttle. He was breathing heavily, holding his arm as another eraser joined the fight, taking a slash at him unrepentantly, catching his side.

Fang flinched, pressing his arm tight against the graze as he fell a few feet, out of the eraser hoard. Flapping awkwardly, he gave Max a silent stare. Just for a second. She saw the pain in his eyes, hidden behind his silent front.

"Ashneh," she shouted, telling him to get lost in their secret language way back from the school. Reluctantly, he nodded a yes and made a hasty retreat as Max soared up to whack the newcomer under the chin. It dodged, catching her wrist and pulling her tight to him, almost nose to nose.

"Hello, Max." Oh God. She recognised him straight away. So much for being flippin' _dead._

"Get lost Ari!" She shouted, kicking him with both feet right in the chest. He looked winded, enough to let go of her wrist. Max shot upwards, away from the other erasers trying to box her in and did a quick downturn. Grabbing Ari's wings on the way down the eraser yelped in surprise, not having time to react as she dragged him at full speed to the water below.

With all the force she could muster, she launched him towards the ocean, her shoes just catching he waters surface as she angled back up again. She rose up to meet what remained of the erasers, claws poised and teeth baring.

"Who wants to be next?" she growled, ready to soar forwards at any second. Glancing down, she saw a winded and soaking Ari manage to get out of the water and start flying away, droplets flying off his wings as he flapped awkwardly away from the fight. Max looked back up. The other erasers were looking edgy.

Max cracked her knuckles before getting into a battle pose, waiting for one of them to make the first move. No body changed position for a good few minutes, until one eraser made a move to withdraw. The others didn't need to be told twice, flapping awkwardly after him. Max smiled to herself. It was awesome to feel powerful.

Suddenly, she remembered Fang. His flying had been off when he left. Suddenly, panic set in as she searched the sky for his familiar figure. Then she saw him, off into the distance, nearing the beach. His flaps were still uneven and rapid, his body at a slightly funny angle. Max poured on the speed, flapping as fast as she could to catch up with him.

"Fang!" She yelled when she got close enough for him to hear. He didn't look round as she got closer, she noted he was very slowly loosing altitude, his flaps become more irregular and ragged. She flew over him, wrapping her arms around his middle.

"Close your wings, Fang." She instructed. He squirmed in her arms, trying to get away.

"S'fine…you cant carry me…" It certainly was not fine. His voice was strained, slurred. Max shifted her arm down a little further, swallowing bile as she felt her arm press against warm liquid. Her other arm wrapped itself around his shoulders.

"Wings in _now_, Fang." She instructed, her motherly voice coming out as panic set into her brain. "I can keep us in a slow descent. We'll hit the beach." When he didn't pull his wings in, Max was about to go off on one at him.

That was, until they went limp instead.


	21. On the Sequel

**I now, author notes as a post are frowned upon. T'is incredibly bad practice, and I do apologise for it. But, the sequal is now up an running, though the title I havent even decided on as im writing this, and is therefore a work in progress. So I cant tell you a name to search for, lol, but it'll be in my profile somewhere, like they all are.**

**Again, sorry for this, but i wasnt sure how else to put down it was out, xP**

**Thanks for reading this one, and I hope you enjoy the sequal. =3  
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